Our Story

Protect Virginia is a grassroots effort that has grown out of a group of concerned citizens in Yorktown, Virginia. In 2023, the cruise industry set its sites on a port of call in Yorktown, a small historic village of about 250 residents. Without citizen input, the cruise industry worked behind the scenes lobbying local officials and state legislators for funding for a pier in Yorktown – and they succeeded. They had devised a plan to bring the first ships to Yorktown the Summer of 2024. 

When citizens finally became aware of these efforts, they immediately realized that massive cruise ships, longer than three football fields with thousands of passengers was incompatible with this small river community. How could this have happened? 

To find answers the group started learning about the industry and to meet regularly to share what we learned. We learned about "confidential" and "for your eyes only" emails to put the plan in place. We learned about the truculent business practices of this industry and their dismal pollution record, both of which fueled our motivation. We started a petition, spoke out at local Board of Supervisor meetings, held town meetings in local libraries, engaged the press, posted yard signs, and more. Our effort led to the cancelling of the proposed cruise ship schedule in Yorktown. 

But in fighting this battle and learning about the tactics that this industry uses to exploit communities, we felt strongly that we needed to share the information that we have learned with the broader community. We know this industry is aggressive and will not stop at Yorktown in expanding their markets. We have reached out to port communities in the US and around the world and have heard their stories of population saturation, air/water pollution, and predatory business practices. So our efforts to Preserve Yorktown have transitioned to Protect Virginia so other communities can be protected from this unhealthy industry. 

Please join us to help protect Virginia from the cruise industry.