Once NMHA had run a number of wooden boat building programs it became apparent that it was not always possible for the participants to make use of their home built vessels due to lack of river access and lack of boating experience.

In 2002 NMHA organized the first Eco-Trip where prior participants in the wooden boat building programs took a one day trip from the headwaters of the Swimming River to the Monmouth Boat Club. The paddlers were accompanied by experienced canoers and a Monmouth County Parks naturalist. Just like the boat building programs it became apparent that trips like these were powerful settings for experiential education.

This led to a discussion with the Red Bank Charter School who were interested in getting their students on the Navesink River for experiential environmental and outdoor education on the Navesink River.

NMHA developed a curriculum that resulted in the River Rangers program, that has been in continuous operation since 2004.

Today NMHA runs the River Rangers program with a variety of schools and community organizations.

While there is great variety and flexibility in these programs, they are generally multi-day programs that use home built canoes that were often built during NMHA organized boat building programs. Often it consists of about 12 six hour canoes with two instructors and about 20 expedition members ranging in age from 8 to 16.

The materials we provide include a lesson plan for instructors, maps of the Navesink River with marked places to visit, bird charts, seining nets, log books for all, and more. Our course for instructors who lead these expeditions takes one day.

Since inception of the program NMHA has developed working relationships with a number of river stake holders who have allowed low impact use of their facilities for the River Ranger programs.

NMHA also owns a custom trailer that allows transportation of an entire River Rangers expedition, consisting of 12 canoes, paddles life jackets and supplies to and from put-in and take out locations.

NMHA is available to develop customized River Rangers programs for community organizations and schools, both on the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers and other suitable locations.