Letter Re: Prince of Wales Island, Alaska as a Retreat Locale?

Sir:

I understand your comments on Alaska’s [poor] potential for survival retreats .Your logic is sound and I have to take seriously someone who has thought about these issues longer than I have. But there is always a but…What about Prince of Wales Island, Alaska? Backwoods Home magazine published an article written by a Jon Stram that I have not got out of mind. The article sold Prince of Wales Island very well, so [for counterbalance] I need an unbiased, expert opinion Thank you, – Russell:

JWR Replies: You aren’t the first to suggest that locale to me. it. I must admit, that as Alaska goes, it is captivating and has one of the best climates. The island is bigger than Delaware!. In my estimation, it would be a fine place to be during an economic depression comparable to the 1930s, but not in a full scale collapse where it would be isolated from transport–especially liquid fuels. (Chainsaws, power boats, generators, float planes, and snow machines “no worky”.) There are 6,000+ people on the island. That is a lot of people for an island with essentially no large scale agriculture, especially when there is no gasoline, diesel, propane, or kerosene available. The accessible four-legged wild game would probably be cleaned out in short order. After that, things might get ugly. In an absolute worst case, your neighbors might start hunting two-legged game.