; (2) the Wah Wah Mountains in the Great Basin region are arid and austere, with massive cliff faces and leathery slopes speckled with piñon and juniper; (3) the Pilot Range and Stansbury Mountains in the Great Basin region are high enough to draw moisture from passing clouds and support ecosystems found nowhere else on earth; (4) from bristlecone pine, the world’s oldest living organism, to newly flowered mountain meadows, mountains of the Great Basin region are islands of nature that— (A) support remarkable biological diversity; and (B) provide opportunities to experience the colossal silence of the Great Basin