Rouge Rescue was started in 1986 to involve volunteers from the community in cleaning up and restoring the Rouge River. Held annually on the first Saturday in June, thousands of volunteers participate at 20-50 sites throughout the watershed.

The Rouge Education Project (REP) is a school-based water quality monitoring program involving elementary, middle and high schools from across southeastern Michigan. Students perform hands-on scientific exploration of the Rouge River including evaluating chemical, biological and physical parameters of water quality. Students are further encouraged to take action to help the river based on their results.

The Schoolyard Habitat Program was founded in 2007 with the support of the EPA's Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project. The objective of the program is to help schools within the Rouge River watershed create vibrant sustainable habitats and an outdoor classroom.

River Restoration is an educational program that offers workshops and hands on opportunites for residents to learn how to take care of the land along the river.

The Benthic Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Program was started in 1998 with support from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to train volunteers from the community to collect data on what lives in the stream. Data is used to assess the long term health of Rouge streams.

The Rouge Frog & Toad Survey was started in 1998 to train volunteers to track wetland health by listening for frogs and toads within the Rouge River watershed.