Mr. Rawles:
I have to take issue with your abuse of Alaska in your [Recommend Retreat Areas page [1]] location recommendations. There is a substantial area in Southeast Alaska that has none of the downsides you cite. I speak from experience and on the ground knowledge that affirms that the Wrangell-Petersburg area of Southeast Alaska is The absolute best location to be in the U.S. bar none. We have gambled everything on it and were absolutely right. We are not earthquake nor Tsunami prone. The biggest recorded tsunami here was not noticed. The fault lines all go out to sea South of Juneau and North of the Canadian Queen Charlotte Islands. We have an abundance of fresh water and sunshine (my garden attests to that fact!) We have very mild winters (check it and see if yours are nearly so mild). We have no major population centers, nor any targeted sites in the event of nuclear warfare. We have no close volcanic activity in this area either. We have unbelievable natural resources (the first Salmonberries and Blueberries are coming on now and they are everywhere!). We have copious game and fish in addition to the multitude of wild edible plants that we enjoy. We are quite near several glaciers and ice fields for a guaranteed supply of drinking water. Our home school laws are second to none! The Great Depression was hardly noticed here. Read [John] Muir’s accounts of the area, and you will find that the natives grew fat here easily making a living. The salmon run thick in many areas along with many other species of fish. I could eat a clam a day for a month out of one hole on the beach here. No one clams, they are everywhere. Mussels are everywhere. Seals are everywhere. Deer and Elk, and sheep, and Moose. Rest assured that this area will fare better than any other when TEOTWAWKI [2] comes! Property is cheap here. Try $15,000 for 8 acres right off the beach! I am quite content to be alone up here, but thoughts of misrepresentation and sincere seekers being turned away do not sit well with me. There is plenty of room and there are plenty of resources for all here. Who needs fuel? For what? I can get anywhere with my feet or my canoe. We have wood to burn indefinitely, food to eat indefinitely, protection from every conceivable natural disaster, who wants to travel anywhere else? I sure don’t!