No rivers flow to the sea from the Great Basin, whose high ridges and alkali sinks dominate this driest state. In 1859 prospectors struck the Comstock Lode in western Nevada. Today gold and silver mines are reopening, but casino gambling, legalized in 1931, added more than— nine billion dollars of revenues to the economy in 2002—more than agriculture, manufacturing, and mining combined. Nevada is 87 percent federally owned. It is the fastest growing state—its population has more than doubled since 1980.