Dana Eness, Executive Director, The Urban Conservancy

Interview with Blake Haney

Key Points

What work does the Urban Conservancy provide within the community?

At its core, our work focuses on the intersection between the built and natural environment—how our neighborhoods are designed, how we live with water, and how we can create healthier, smarter communities.

Our Front Yard Initiative is one example. It encourages homeowners to replace excess paving with permeable landscaping, helping reduce flooding and connect people to the environment in a hands-on way. There's also an educational component, especially for kids, about living sustainably with water.

Then there’s StayLocal, which has been part of the organization from the beginning. It’s all about supporting locally owned businesses—not just because they’re local, but because they’re rooted in and connected to this place. That work has evolved recently to include efforts around sustainability, like reducing food waste in the hospitality sector. Through a grant, we've been able to partner with Nunez Community College to help embed sustainability certifications into workforce training programs across the state. It’s a response to real interest from restaurants, museums, and event venues that want to operate more sustainably.

We’re just starting to explore the entrepreneurial opportunities around this—highlighting local businesses that are implementing sustainable practices, and supporting the green economy.

But overall, the Urban Conservancy has always focused on tangible, physical changes—yards that look different, reduced flooding, visible results. At the same time, we aim for cultural and behavioral shifts—getting people to think differently, to question, “Why were we doing it that way?” Whether it’s excessive paving or food waste, we want to help people see new possibilities, and once they see it, they can’t unsee it.

Can you share a bit about the Front Yard Initiative?

Sure. The Front Yard Initiative started about 10 years ago, sparked by complaints from residents—particularly Uptown—who were frustrated that neighbors were over-paving their front yards, well beyond what city code allowed. People were asking, “How do we stop this?” So we held a community meeting with city planners, representatives, and neighbors to figure out a solution.

But something interesting happened in that meeting. One neighbor, a small guy—I’ll never forget—stood up and said, “Yeah, I have too much paving in my yard. I don’t even want it. But what’s the first step to getting rid of it? Do I rent a jackhammer from Lowe’s?” That question completely shifted our focus. Instead of only trying to stop future over-paving, we realized we needed to help people who wanted to undo the mistakes of the past.

That’s how the Front Yard Initiative was born. It’s a program designed to incentivize and support homeowners in removing excessive paving from their front yards. We provide a financial incentive—$2.50 per square foot, up to 500 square feet—and connect people with professionals who can help them do the job right.

Removing paving doesn’t just improve curb appeal—it also helps reduce flooding, keeps water out of storm drains, protects your home from damage, and even discourages termite issues. It's truly a win-win.

To date, we’ve financially supported de-paving projects at around 166 homes and provided technical assistance to many more. We’ve collected lots of useful data on how much paving has been removed, how much stormwater storage has been added, and the overall impact.

We modeled our program after successful initiatives in other cities. Long Beach, California has a Lawn-to-Garden program, and Philadelphia’s Rain Check program helps homeowners install things like rain barrels and French drains. We worked closely with Long Beach’s water department when designing ours.

But here’s the challenge: unlike those cities, we don’t have a dedicated funding stream to keep the program going. That’s why discussions about a possible stormwater fee in New Orleans are so important. What concerns me is that no one seems to be talking about using that money for direct homeowner incentives like this one—which is exactly what we need. If we had a defined, well-managed funding source for programs like the Front Yard Initiative, we could do so much more.

What kind of funding approaches or sources do you think the city or state should embrace to bring in more capital for water-related projects?

It’s a really interesting and challenging time to be talking about funding. For a while, a lot of local environmental organizations were supported by federal dollars—grants from agencies like the EPA. But recently, many of those funding streams have dried up or been deprioritized. That’s forced a lot of groups to completely rethink their funding strategies.

There’s been a shift toward philanthropic funding, but the scale is completely different. Federal money came in large amounts. Philanthropy is trying to step up and fill the gap, but it’s not one-to-one. So now, nationally and locally, we’re seeing groups scale back, lay low, or try to ride out this uncertain period without rocking the boat too much.

What we really need now is more local collaboration and practical problem-solving. We need to take stock of what we already have—what assets, knowledge, and partnerships exist—and use that to keep moving forward. Especially in the context of water management.

When we talk about infrastructure, it’s important to understand that green infrastructure—rain gardens, bioswales, tree canopies—isn’t meant to replace gray infrastructure like pipes and pumps. We still need that gray infrastructure. But green solutions can “flatten the curve”—they reduce flooding in the critical first hour of a rain event, before the pumps have even kicked in.

Even large-scale green infrastructure projects like Lafitte Greenway or Pontchartrain Park’s Blue Garden are essential, but they can’t handle everything alone. We need both green and gray systems working in tandem.

And it’s not just about systems—it’s about mindset. For instance, we need to start treating our trees—live oaks, cypresses—not just as pretty landscape features but as infrastructure. They play a vital role in stormwater absorption and heat reduction.

We also need to rethink our relationship with native plants. There’s a strong community here—groups like the Native Plant Initiative and Master Naturalists—who are passionate about restoring biodiversity and making these plants available to homeowners. Their ethos is simple: “Make baby plants, give them away, and teach people how to grow them.”

So funding needs to support all of that—gray infrastructure, green solutions, behavioral change, and community-based efforts. And a local stormwater fee, if done right, could be one important piece of that puzzle—especially if it’s tied directly to incentives for homeowners and neighborhood-based improvements.

What organizations in New Orleans are working on native plant projects? Are there any others you’d highlight specifically?

The mothership, without a doubt, is the Native Plant Initiative. They’re leading the way with robust programming and tons of volunteer opportunities. For example, they maintain native gardens around places like the Rosa Keller Library and have even created a native plant walking trail near the Big Lake in City Park. They organize weekly volunteer sessions there—not just for upkeep, but also for education and community-building. Honestly, plant people are some of the happiest people you’ll meet, and they get a lot done.

What’s really great about them is how tapped in they are to the community. We had a grant to work with schools in New Orleans East on stormwater management—integrating it into the curriculum and helping reimagine their schoolyards as spaces that could handle water more effectively. At the end of the program, students wanted to plant a native garden at Sherwood Forest Elementary. We reached out to the Native Plant Initiative, and they donated a few hundred baby native plants—just like that. It’s a great example of the kind of local neural network we’re building, where everyone calls on each other’s strengths.

Another example: Groundwork New Orleans. Parks & Parkways recently got a call from a resident about a live oak that was being suffocated by concrete in the public right-of-way—paved completely up to the trunk. They asked if we had Front Yard Initiative funding to help remove the concrete. I didn’t, but I knew Todd at Groundwork had workforce trainees and a grant for hands-on work. I called him, and within a week, the concrete was removed and the tree was liberated. It cost a few hundred dollars, and we covered it. Simple, fast, collaborative problem-solving.

That kind of networked approach—knowing who to call, what resources they have, and how to activate them—is what I think will carry us through the next few years. It’s not just effective; it’s fun. And honestly, it’s the kind of work that builds real community momentum.

On this page

• Dana Eness, Executive Director, The Urban Conservancy
• Key Points
• What work does the Urban Conservancy provide within the community?
• Can you share a bit about the Front Yard Initiative?
• What kind of funding approaches or sources do you think the city or state should embrace to bring in more capital for water-related projects?
• What organizations in New Orleans are working on native plant projects? Are there any others you’d highlight specifically?