Wise man left Virginia inside in rescue (7)
I believe the answer is:
salvage
'rescue' is the definition.
(I know that salvage is a type of rescue)
'wise man left virginia inside' is the wordplay.
'wise man' becomes 'sage' (sage is a kind of wise man).
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'virginia' becomes 'va' (US state abbreviation).
'inside' is an insertion indicator.
'l'+'va'='lva'
'sage' placed around 'lva' is 'SALVAGE'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for salvage that I've seen before include "Recover (cargo from wreck)" , "Preserve" , "Property that's rescued" , "Rescue a wrecked ship at sea" , "Rescue of property from peril" .)