Visiting Jacobstown is a shock for many Fallout: New Vegas players. A complete departure from the sandy desert of the Mojave, Jacobstown is filled to the brim with greenery and trees. Why does Jacobstown have trees?
Jacobstown has trees because New Vegas was not directly hit by nukes. Mr. House was able to destroy many of the nukes that were falling on the New Vegas area.
Hundreds of years have passed since the Great War. Even if Jacobstown was touched by a small amount of radiation, the environment has fully reverted to its state before the War.
Why Jacobstown has trees
While visiting The King in Freeside, the player can ask about his Cyborg dog, Rex. A quest will lead the player to Jacobstown, a tree-covered resort in the mountains where Rex’s robo-brain can be properly cared for.
Uncharacteristic for the Mojave, Jacobstown’s greenery is completely unexpected.
Should the player work Mr. House, the player can ask him how he “saved” New Vegas while the bombs fell.
House says by 2065, he deemed it a “mathematical certainty” that an atomic war would devastate the Earth within 15 years.
Setting out to work immediately, House looked to at least save Vegas. He knew he couldn’t save the world, but he could at least save his city, and perhaps, mankind.
On the day of the Great War, 77 atomic warheads targeted Las Vegas and its surrounding areas, according to House. His networked mainframes were able to predict and force-transmit disarm code subsets to 59 warheads, neutralizing them before impact.
Laser cannons mounted on the roof of the Lucky 38 destroyed another 9 warheads, House says. The rest got through, although none hit the city itself.
Jacobstown, located West of New Vegas, would also fall under this no-hit zone. It’s likely that Jacobstown was most likely not affected by radiation whatsoever. If it were, a few centuries is plenty of time to shake off what little it may have been in contact with.
So that’s the answer. Jacobstown has trees because New Vegas was not directly hit by nukes.