Hannah Downey

Hannah Downey

Policy Director

Hannah Downey is the policy director at PERC, helping to bring free market solutions to environmental policy challenges. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Salt Lake Tribune, and local papers. After being introduced to PERC in college, she pursued the ideas of free market environmentalism and became a PERC research assistant. She graduated from Montana State University with degrees in economics and political science in 2015.

Though she grew up in the Midwest, Hannah was lucky enough to spend her summers in Montana. Throughout college she worked as a backpacking guide in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. Hannah now calls Bozeman home and fills her spare moments coaching youth mountain biking, serving on the board of the local ski foundation, fishing, and enjoying the wonderful outdoors every way she can.

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Articles by Hannah Downey

Improve Policies to Reduce the Risk of Future Catastrophic Wildfires

Hannah Downey

After a summer of flames and smoke, policymakers can—and must—improve policies to reduce the risk of future catastrophic wildfires.

Private Conservation Efforts Offer Answers to Our Environmental Challenges

Brian Yablonski, Hannah Downey

A podcast discussing environmental policy under the Biden administration.

Public Comment on the Revision of a Nonessential Experimental Population of Black-footed Ferrets in the Southwest

Hannah Downey

PERC weighs in on the Fish and Wildlife Service's proposed rule revision.

Public Access to Private Land Case Highlights the Role Private Lands Play in Conservation

Hannah Downey

PERC joined the Western Landowners Alliance, the New Mexico Habitat Conservation Initiative, the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and the Utah Farmers Union to file an amicus brief in support of private land conservation.

Public Comment on American Prairie Reserve Bison Grazing

Hannah Downey

Allowing APR to graze privately-owned bison on its federal allotments respects APR’s rights and, ultimately, honors all landowners’ rights to exercise their grazing privileges while promoting the health of federal lands.

Public Comment on the Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Incentive Program

Hannah Downey

The BLM and the Wild Horse and Burro Program should focus their efforts on assuring and enhancing the integrity of the Adoption Incentive Payment program through enforcement, rather than heeding calls to dismantle the program as a whole.

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