Students from J.M.U. were lending a hand to a Valley farmer Saturday. They're helping him in his mission to make sure part of a waterway that runs through his land won't be polluted with runoff from his farm.

Because Smith Creek runs into the Chesapeake Bay, it's important to make sure the water remains pollution free. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation worked with Shenandoah Valley Soil and Water Conservation to set the project up.

Old scrap metal and fencing were removed from the land. More than 150 sapling trees were planted to reduce runoff and erosion, which will improve the quality of the water.

"I know that Rockingham County has big effect with livestock on the Chesapeake Bay," said J.M.U. Environmental Studies student Lani Furbank. "Anything that we can do on the individual farm level is going to make a huge impact on the Bay itself. I think it's really cool that something small that we're doing today, can have such a huge impact."

Conservation Services, a Waynesboro company, will finish the project by the end of next week.

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