Holly Fretwell is a conservation research economist with the Hoover Institution, PERC research fellow, and environmental entrepreneur. For more than three decades, she has explored the economics of conservation and environmental quality, public lands policy, property rights, private conservation, and markets.

As the author of Who is Minding the Federal Estate: Political Management of America’s Public Lands,  she advocates for conservation through collaboration and entrepreneurship. Holly actively supports the use of market approaches for conservation in her actions, writing, and research, and has testified before Congress on issues related to U.S. national parks and the future of the Forest Service.

Holly taught economics at Montana State University for 15 years and has collaborated with the Foundation for Teaching Economics and Montana Council on Economic Education, providing tools for high school teachers to inspire economic thinking. She has developed numerous curriculum materials on economic principles for educators.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in resource economics, both from Montana State University. Holly lives in Montana, where her passion for skiing, hiking, biking, fishing, and exploring the outdoors inspires her commitment to advancing conservation.