The Post-Apocalyptic Roadmap/Alaska

"North, to the future."

Part of the Post-Apocalyptic Roadmap Project.

"Nuclear Winter? Pfft! What a load of crap." - Jonathan Krupp, Fur Trapper

"Michelle, I'm telling you, this isn't a regular giant cabbage. This might be the biggest cabbage of all time." - Lance Nicholson, farmer from Palmer

Alaska has fared better than many other states of the Union in the aftermath of nuclear war. Because of the state's missile interception systems, the damage to the Pacific Coast was significantly lessened from what it could have been originally. Due to the state's spread out population, the state still sits at a population of around 850,000 including military forces redeployed here from Okinawa and other Asian bases and the population of the formerly Canadian territory annexed by the state.

Alaska remains it's own state by and large, with a powerful Air Force, acting as a shield for the state, which is beleaguered by the occasional probing at it's coastline. The state expanded East after the fall of the Union, absorbing portions of Western Canada, including Whitehorse, which now serves as a well-sized trading post to Eastern Canada and the Lower 48.

Factions

Alaska's state government survived largely intact, aside from Senators and other Federal representatives who were outside the state at the time. Those from outside of the state (either visiting or stationed) were given a choice: Stay and work to ensure the prosperity of their new home, or return to where they were originally from.

The Boroughs

Essentially smaller "states" within the Alaskan government, most cover an area of several hundred to several thousand square miles, with the Yukon-Koyukuk being the single largest. The biggest cities in Alaska, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Wasilla-Palmer compose the majority of the population of the state, with almost 100,000 living in smaller communities.

The Slopers

The oilfields and platforms of the North Slope continue to produce oil that is shipped through the Alaska Pipeline to Anchorage, where it is refined into various petroleum products that provide a lucrative trade economy for the state. Only through the work of the hard men and women known as "Slopers" can the state maintain it's prominence, and it's independence. They are all provided an education through the remaining colleges in the state, which they attend for 2 weeks, before rotating back to the North Slope for 2 weeks to put what they've learned into practice.

Native Alaskans

Small groups of mostly culturally homogeneous reside primarily along the state's coasts, with groups of Aleut, Inuit, and many other groups maintaining their subsistence lifestyles mostly unchanged. Bethel and Nome are more diverse, with the former the site of several fisheries, and Nome maintaining it's gold mining industry for new electronics and other manufacturing processes.

Locales

Alaska is comprised of several distinct regions: the Arctic, the Western Reach, the Southwestern Chain, the Southcentral Valleys, the Interior, the Southeastern Rainforests, and the newly acquired "Alcan" region.

The Arctic

The landscape of the Arctic is a massive frozen desert for over half the year, but massive oil wealth exists beneath the frozen tundra. Harsh winds buffet the land, and great bears and other tenacious beasts roam the lichen-covered plains and rocky outcrops. Slopers spend half of their four week cycle here, working the oilfields. The Alaska Pipeline stretches from here through the Interior, and down to Valdez, where the raw crude is refined into various products.

The Western Reach

With Nome as the largest city in the region, it has been connected to the main roadways of the state through the newly commissioned Kaasen-Earp Highway, connecting the city to Fairbanks, along with a corresponding branch of the Alaskan Railroad, to ensure the swift transportation of raw mineral wealth down to manufacturing facilities in Anchorage.

The Southwestern Chain

The area of the state consisting of the Aleutian Islands as well as the formerly unorganized city of Bethel and surrounding area. Bethel has also received a railway and highway to connect it to the pre-existing highway systems of the state, named after the Kuskokwim mail route, which was originally run by dogsled. The region has a large number of fisheries which help feed the state, as well as offering opportunities for mineral wealth to be recovered.

Attempts from Chinese and Korean forces onto the Aleutian islands were quickly stymied after the dust of the Exchange had cleared, with overwhelming airstrikes sinking several ships, and forcing a rout within a month.

The Southcentral Valleys

The Southcentral Valleys consist of the land surrounding the cities of Kodiak, Kenai, Soldotna, Anchorage, and the combined cities of Wasilla-Palmer as well as various smaller towns and villages. Anchorage was targeted for two nuclear strikes, but due to the state's missile defense systems and the city's spread out nature, suffered relatively minor damage. Contains the Joint Army Air Force base Elmendorf-Richardson, containing about 3/5ths of the state's air forces, along with two brigades of Army forces using the new Stryker ICV. Along with this, new Naval bases near Anchorage and Kodiak are expected to be fully operational within the next few years.

Wasilla-Palmer is a large source of agricultural products, and efforts to maintain fruitful harvests longer into the year have provided reliable foodstuffs to the portions of the state that would otherwise suffer, as well as the new holdings in the "Alcan" region.

The Interior

The Interior is home to the state's third largest city of Fairbanks as well as several important towns. Fort Wainwright is the Army base in the area, which has a battalion of engineers as well as an additional brigade of Strykers. Elmendorf AFB lies a short distance south, and houses elements from the former 354th Fighter Wing, consisting of F-16 and A-10 aircraft. Delta Junction is the town at the joining of the Alaskan-Canadian Highway and the Richardson Highway, and has the Army Fort of Greely located nearby. Fort Greely has expanded in recent years, both due to it's nature as a missile interception silo, as an infantry training ground and as a station to dispatch troops down the highway into the wastelands of the Lower 48 if need be. Trade through the region to the Alcan and the Lower 48 has caused a significant increase in population in the area, and the region also produces grain for the state through the expanded Barley Project of the area.

The Southeastern Rainforests

The former state capitol of Juneau is located here, along with smaller villages and logging operations. Juneau was struck with an ICBM, though due to the distance from most of the rest of the state and it's low population, was not as significant a loss as other strikes could have been, and New Juneau was built nearer to the mainland of the state. Ferries are used to get from island to island here, and trade with the remaining population of Vancouver and Washington (mostly for software and coffee) remains.

Alcan

The sections of the former Yukon, Northwest Territory, and British Columbian provinces that joined the state, and serve as the entry to the state proper, as well as valuable trading posts and sources of valuable resources. Whitehorse is the main trading post, and has a battalion of mechanized infantry stationed at all times, to prevent a quiet incursion from outside forces.

Possible Scenarios

Horrors of the Lower 48

As a trader or from the contiguous United States, you seek to escape the waking nightmare life has become. Though the world has ended, a radio message espouses a land to the north, with the motto: "North, to the future." Anywhere is better than this hell.

Enemy at the Gates

A desperate call from Whitehorse: Roving hordes of bandits attacking, almost ten thousand strong! Time for the state's daring pilots to remind these heathens that they're as cold as the land they call home.

"THE SIZE OF AN EAGLE, JIM!"

Reports are coming in from some smaller towns and villages that mosquitoes the size of birds have been seen. Long a joke among the state's inhabitants, surely nuclear fallout couldn't cause the bloodsuckers to grow to those sizes! Right?