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 and worked as a backpacking guide in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness throughout college. Hannah now calls Bozeman home and fills her spare moments coaching youth mountain biking, serving on the board of the local ski foundation, and enjoying the wonderful outdoors every way she can.

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Articles by Hannah Downey

Red Tape Prevents Old-Growth Forest Restoration

Hannah Downey

Ensuring that resources make it to the ground in a timely manner will require policy change.

Empowering Good Samaritan Mine Cleanups

Hannah Downey

Private partners are ready to act, and it’s time policymakers free them to start remediating abandoned mines.

It’s Time to Get Proactive About Forest Management

Hannah Downey

The focus on active restoration instead of strict preservation will go a long way to confront the wildfire crisis, but only if red tape and regulatory challenges don’t interfere.

Empowering Tribes Can Help Address the Drought Plaguing the West

Hannah Downey

Tribal nations deserve to manage their water rights as they so choose.

Statement for the Record on the Great American Outdoors Act

Hannah Downey

Two years after the passage of GAOA, Congress is right to review the implementation of the program and the benefits to our public lands.

Let Utahns Decide How to Use Their Water

Hannah Downey

As demands on water resources shift, water rights owners deserve the ability to respond to conservation needs without fear of losing their water forever.

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