The National Committee for the New River has recognized the Concerned Citizens of Giles County with a Wallace and Peggy Vigilance Award. The Concerned Citizens were represented at the ceremony by Britt and Leigh Stoudenmire, owners and operators of Canoe the New Outfitters. The group was named the volunteers of the year in Virginia.

The NCNR was founded in 1975 to fight an Appalachian Power Company plan to dam the New River and flood about 40,000 acres of Virginia's Grayson County and North Carolina's Ashe County. Wallace and Peggy Carroll were instrumental in the creation of the NCNR and in its successful campaign against the dam project.

The Concerned Citizens of Giles County formed in response to an Appalachian Power plan to pile 254,000 cubic yards of coal ash on the banks of the New River in Narrows. That represents about three years' worth of ash generated by Appalachian's coal-fired power plant at Glen Lyn. It will cover more than 7 acres 30 feet deep. The site began accepting truck loads of coal ash in March.

-- Tim Thornton