Siberia

Easternmost Russia is Siberia. Its a land of swamp, short trees (all under 29 feet tall) and volcanoes. There's also bears, the big ones that eat people. Siberia is an interesting place because other than dirt roads, it is largely undeveloped. In Long Way Round and the middle section of Mondo Enduro, Siberia is the part of the trip around the world that wrecks your vehicle, stops your forward travel, ends your journey. Unless you get creative. Both trips did, which is why they eventually succeeded in their journeys around the world.

As a Californian who has been to the PNW and to British Columbia and to the Yukon and Alaska, what I've seen of Siberia, both on film and on Google Earth, I can see potential there. Despite being heavily treed, both Alaska and Siberian forests are useless, so ignore those. They are thin short trees, and you'd get one or two 2x4s and that's it. And those would warp as they dried. Useless as lumber, but Siberia has other values. For one, they have good machinists and backwater engineers. They are used to building useful structures in less than ideal conditions, meant for use in harsh and abusive conditions. And they don't throw a tantrum when they break during the worst of times, because stuff breaks. If Siberia weren't controlled, very distantly, by Putin, and traded to the Pacific rather than via train back into Russia, there could be useful trade back and forth. The big problem is that Putin does officially control Siberia. If they became their own republic, then things would be different, and a land rush might occur, especially since its pretty much open. Maybe not this century, but someday it would be a place to summer not completely overwhelmed and crowded like the Oregon Coast or British Columbia. Rich people always need somewhere to summer. Siberia might be it, one day.