Our Raritan Woods & Waterways grants support work by municipal governments, school districts, local nonprofits, and landowners to plant trees in riparian buffers along the North Branch, South Branch and their tributaries. The grants cover the cost of purchasing native trees and shrubs, and cages and tubes needed to protect them from deer browsing. RHA also provides technical assistance.

We are excited that our Woods & Waterways grant program has fostered important partnerships in helping to restore our forested riparian buffers and protect clean water in the Upper Raritan. Our goal is to plant 10,000 native trees and shrubs within riparian buffers throughout our 470-square-mile watershed over the next few years.

Planting native trees and shrubs will help stabilize stream banks, mitigate flooding, lower water temperatures, create habitat for wildlife, reduce pollution from stormwater runoff, and improve water quality.

Funding for the new grant program comes from a Natural Resources Damages settlement to compensate for environmental damages at the Cornell-Dubilier Superfund site in South Plainfield. In 2021, RHA was awarded $490,000 to conduct a major riparian buffer restoration effort along the Raritan with a goal of establishing and maintaining 10,000 native trees and shrubs and restoring at least eight miles of stream buffer. Partnerships with municipalities, counties and other landowners will make this possible.

We are excited to share the names of our Woods & Waterways project partners, the location and waterways they are working with RHA to restore.

Woods & Waterways Projects 2024 – 2026
Project Site Name	Waterbody	Landowner
Rockabye Meadow	Peapack Brook	Peapack Gladstone Borough
Bamboo Brook Outdoor Education Center	Herzog Brook	Morris County
Califon Island Park	South Branch	Califon Borough
Hunts Mill Park	South Branch	Clinton Town
Jericho Road, High Bridge	South Branch	Private Landowner
Far Hills Fairgrounds	North Branch	Borough of Far Hills
Camp DeWitt, Hillsborough	Tributary to Neshanic River	Girl Scouts Heart of NJ
Payne Road	Prescott Brook	Clinton Township
Nassau Trail	Spring / Seep of South Branch	High Bridge Borough
Melick’s Bridge	South Branch	Hunterdon County
Rainbow Hill Preserve	Tributary to Neshanic River	NJCF
Helen Woodman Preserve	South Branch	Raritan Headwaters
Pittstown Rd, Pittstown	Capoolong Creek	Private Landowner
Mine Brook Park & Bernadette Morales Nature Preserve	Walnut Brook	Raritan Township
Black River Pond	Black River	Roxbury Township
South Branch Greenway	South Branch	Somerset County
Obediah Tourette Grist Mill	South Branch	Washington Township
Miquin Woods	Spruce Run	Hunterdon County

To learn more about the Raritan Woods & Waterways program, click here or contact Robert Lucas at rlucas@raritanheadwaters.org. The webpage includes the grant application and a video with information about program eligibility, how to apply, and what to expect from the partnership.