• The Big Lie - In order to suppress opposition, for years many people were told by planners they would not have to give up their homes and lives - now the planners have changed their story at the last minute!
  
• The planning is being executed, controlled, and influenced  by big business, big government, and interests outside of the state, including:

U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Virginia Tech University
Land Developers in Maryland
Survey Crews from Lexington, KY

• The plan will force the poor, retirees, longtime residents and home owners in  the valley to give up their homes and land for a scenic parkway.
  
• The West Virginia Department of Highways has refused to disclose to the people being impacted by the Parkway,  Freedom of Information Act requests for the final environmental impact statement, for which there already exists a draft version that has been shared with the Federal Highway Administration.  What are they hiding?
  
• The National Park Service wants to remove all people from the "View Shed" of the parkway.  That means all homes or buildings that can be seen from the Parkway are to be taken by the government, abandoned, and then destroyed.
  
• In several other areas of the valley where the National Park Service has "bought people out" with grand promises of investing in and improving the valley, the Park Service now claims it does not have enough money to do what it promised to care for and maintain?  If it can't afford what it already has, does it make sense for NPS to take on yet more land?
  
• The New River Parkway Authority refuses to answer questions from the public about the plan at regular  monthly meetings. 
  
• The plan will introduce more traffic, more pollution, and higher sustained highway speeds along the route of the parkway.
  
• There are many alternatives to the current plan for forced land acquisition.
  
• Environmental Impact - The government has yet to complete an environmental impact study for the revised plan.  It has been working on a draft for over a year, but is now allowing the public less than 30 days to comment!
  
• The plan is supposed to preserve the beauty of nature of the valley, yet one influential Maryland Developer wants to build an exclusive and upscale resort right in the middle of it.
  
• The current plan, under the auspices of saving the valley, will actually destroy it's rural character and pristine nature.
  
• Our government is telling residents that they will only be compensated for their physical property value, yet the land and homes are being taken because of their  scenic value and location; at the same time our government is wasting tax payer dollars in other places in the Valley.  Those landowners willing to sell should be compensated in part because of the location, much the same as ocean front property has more value than that which is inland. The owners not willing to sell should be allowed to stay.
  
• Many species of animal, including ducks, Canadian geese, toads, great blue heron, green heron, beaver, eagles, and minks, have returned to the valley after years of being gone. The new plan threatens to drive them off again, and at the same time destroy other native species of plant and animal life.
  
• Did you know the National Park Service (NPS) wants to return ALL parks to pre-Columbus era noise levels?  That would allow no tourists, industry, cars, trucks, buses, phones, lights (they make noise), people, and in the case of the New River Valley, no trains either.  Is that economic development or government gone mad?  So why, then, we must ask, do they insist on building this road? The NPS claims to be singularly qualified to determine acceptable noise level. Wonder if one of their rangers was present when Columbus landed?
  
• The plan envisions extending the road all the way to Princeton, which as currently defined, would mean eventual removal of all people from the valley for over 30 miles.
  
• The current plan will erode the property tax base.  Today, residents of the valley pay property taxes that help support local schools, road construction, and a variety of other projects.  With the massive size of the land grab under the current plan, a Parkway Authority which advocates wholesale elimination of people from the view shed, and the subsequent turnover of land to the federal government, there will be substantially less people paying the property taxes that are needed so desperately by the local government. Wouldn't it be better to have the people stay on their land and maintain a reasonable and affordable level of  property upkeep that enhances the Parkway and respects property rights?  This would retain the property tax base. The valley does not need to be devoid of people.  Isn't the Parkway supposed to promote economic progress and development?
  
• We are told that  the Parkway is being built to Hinton to benefit the economy of the town.  Why then does the route by-pass the historic district and the heart of the City of Hinton?
  
• In its Meeting Brochure for the 11 January, 2001 meeting, the WV Dept. of Highways states that the NRPA "is developing a Land Management System (LMS) to guide development in the New River Parkway Corridor". This ignores/glosses over the real issue: We, New River Friends, applaud the idea of constructively protecting future development, but we, New River Friends, are already here, and have been for generations in some cases, and want to remain in harmony and peace!
  
• Members of our group have reported that the National Park Service representatives have stated intent to eventually take all the land on the Route 20 by-pass at Hinton, including the businesses.  To the best of our knowledge, no one from the NPS or the NRPA is denying this.  Would  this really help the area's economy?