Jennifer Fielder
Credentials
- B.S., Parks and Recreation Administration with Business Emphasis, Western State College of Colorado (1990)1โJennifer Fielder,โ LinkedIn. Accessed March 16, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. 2โAbout,โ Montana State Senator Jennifer Fielder. Archived March 18, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YJhob
- Associate degrees, Wenatchee Valley College 3โJennifer Fielder,โ Ballotpedia.
Background
Jennifer Fielder is the โacting/volunteerโ CEO of the American Lands Council, a group that advocates for transferring control of federal public lands to the states.4โOur Team,โ American Lands Council. Archived March 16, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.vn/wip/BKE56
In 2020, Jennifer Fielder was elected to a seat on the Montana Public Service Commission. She assumed office in January 2021, and her term ends in January 2025. 5โJennifer Fielder,โ Ballotpedia.
Jennifer Fielder represented State Senate District 7 as a Republican in the state legislature from 2012 to 2020.6โAbout,โ Montana State Senator Jennifer Fielder. Archived March 18, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YJhob 7โJennifer Fielder,โ Ballotpedia.
Fielder was a speaker at the Heartland Instituteโs 13th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC13) in 2019.8โJennifer Fielder, ICCC13 (Panel 5: Advancing from Theory to Practice),โ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heartland Institute, July 30, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
Ownership of Public Lands
Environmental advocates have suggested that the American Lands Councilโs goal of transferring federal public lands to the states would lead to states selling them off.9โA Dangerous Idea Resurrected,โ Montana Wilderness Association, October 24, 2019. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/imAqT
In an op-ed for The Helena Independent Record in 2019, Fielder stated that people opposed to state takeover of federal public lands were mistaken and had โbeen fed a lie that somebody would sell off all our public lands if Montana took control of themโ:10Jennifer Fielder. โTransfer of public lands could benefit us all,โ Helena Independent Record, January 18, 2019. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/uSwzd
โUnfortunately, federal mismanagement of 25 million acres in Montana has been increasingly marked by catastrophic wildfires, smoke filled summers, polluted water, decimated wildlife, blocked access, and economic decline. A history of slow or poor decision making by Washington DC politicians and out-of-state administrators has caused unnecessary hardships, multi-million disasters, and cost way too many lives.
โAs more and more people realize that we can and must do better, more and more people are realizing it is time to bring land management decisions closer to home โ where they belong. Yes it is time to have an honest conversation about how the transfer of federal lands to the States could benefit us all.โ
Stance on Climate Change
October 19, 2020
The Missoulian reported that Jennifer Fielder, then running for a seat on the Montana Public Service Commission, commented on climate change during a virtual forum hosted by City Club Missoula.11David Erickson. โPSC candidates Fielder, Tranel talk climate, corporations,โ Missoulian, October 19, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
โIf you look at what was modeled in the โ70s, we were supposed to go through a horrible Ice Age,โ Fielder said. โGlobal warming models predicted oceans were going to be boiling. We need to be careful about jumping on a bandwagon and saying โthe sky is falling, and weโve all got to do thisโ based on somebodyโs opinion.โ
โA lot of folks think (climate change) is worse than it is,โ Fielder said without citing any specific studies. โSome of the โsky is fallingโ predictions just havenโt panned out.โ
โIโm not as interested in arguing over climate change and arguing over what type of energy weโre using as making sure weโre safe, our communities are safe,โ Fielder also said during the forum.
2020 Presidential Election Denial
November 13, 2020
Jennifer Fielder posted on Facebook, in response to comments from other users:12Facebook post by Jennifer Fielder, November 13, 2020. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
โYes, the contested states have serious election irregularities which are being challenged in court and the close states are undergoing mandatory recounts.โ
[โฆ]
โYes its true. Recounts and lawsuits are under way in several states. Thousands of cases of voter fraud and election irregularities have been reported.โ
November 7, 2020
Jennifer Fielder shared a Facebook post from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) regarding supposedly suspect 2020 election results, in which Cruz wrote in part, โthe media does not get to select our Presidentโฆwe should allow the rule of law and legal process to operate.โ Fielder supported Cruz with a one-word comment: โCorrect.โ
November 7, 2020
On her Facebook account, Jennifer Fielder posted a link to a parler.com op-ed by Dinesh DโSouza and quoted DโSouza: โโBiden wonโ has the same level of credibilityโand comes from the same sourcesโas โTrump is a white supremacistโ and โTrump colluded with Russia.โ These are bogus claims, not facts. The facts will be determined when the case is heard and the judges rule on it #electionresults2020 โ Dinesh DโSouza.โ
COVID-19 Denial
July 19, 2020
โEven within the medical profession, there is NOT a consensus on the subject of public masking,โ Jennifer Fielder posted on Facebook.13โEven within the medical profession, there is NOT a consensus on the subject of public masking,โ Facebook post by Jennifer Fielder, July 19, 2020. Archived .png on file at Desmog.
April 27, 2020
Regarding efforts to understand and slow the COVID-19 pandemic, Jennifer Fielder posted to Facebook that โthe death rate is much lower than initially anticipated [and] sheltering in place and sanitizing everything is weakening peopleโs immune systems.โ
May 28, 2020
On Facebook, Jennifer Fielder posted in support of a campaign that claimed contract tracing intended to help slow the pandemic was โcreating a police state and granting the government authority to remove people from their homes. Fielder posted, โI have been hearing a lot of concern about this. If you want to oppose โContact Tracingโ, here is a link to let your members of Congress know.โ14โTell Congress NO on HR 6666!โ TakeActionforFreedom.com. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/SmZ0Z
May 21, 2020
On Facebook, Jennifer Fielder promoted comments by Stanford professor of medicine Jayanta โJayโ Bhattacharya, who asserted that pandemic lockdowns would not succeed at โeradicat[ing]โ COVID-19. Later in the year, Bhattacharya would co-author the Great Barrington Declaration, a controversial statement advocating a herd immunity strategy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement was sponsored by the American Institute for Economic Research, a Koch-funded right-wing think tank that has spread climate change denial.
Key Quotes
August 7, 2018
Jennifer Fielder spoke on a panel titled โREINing in the Regulatorsโ at the Heartland Instituteโs America First Energy Conference:15โJennifer Fielder on Panel 4A: REINing in the Regulators,โ The Heartland Institute, August 10, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
[00:09:14] Well, itโs this hands-off management, itโs this preservationist, false narrative that has been projected by the left and this no compromise, hands-off, donโt touch mantra is simply has been driving the policy for far too long. And decisions made by people that donโt live there and donโt understand how proper management of the land really does benefit it. And we have to teach people that our environment is not a museum.
2014
Jennifer Fielderโs State Senate websiteโs โEnvironmentโ page outlined her views on environmental issues:16โEnvironment,โ Montana State Senator Jennifer Fielder. Archived March 21, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/GtwU7
โ[โฆ] the โenvironmental movementโ has become increasingly active in obstructing proper resource management and profiting from frivolous lawsuits. The cumulative effects of lawsuits waged by neo-environmental groups has depleted public agency budgets to the point where even the U.S. Forest Service can no longer manage timber in a reasonable and beneficial manner.
โThe fact is some of these prominent so-called environmental organizations are doing more harm than good. And they are getting rich by exploiting the emotions and pocket books of unsuspecting donors who truly care about our environment.
โDecades ago, the spotted owl and the Endangered Species Act were used to shut down much of the U.S. timber industry. Since then we have seen the ESA mis-used to halt beneficial uses of public and private property โ even when there was no threat of the species going extinct. The insertion of emotionally charged, politically driven management rather than science-based decision making has lead to unhealthy forests, destructive insect epidemics, catastrophic wildfires, degradation of watersheds, a rampant wolf population, and destruction of our environment.โ
On the websiteโs โProsperityโ page, Fielder linked to the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, stating:
โGod blessed our land with an abundance of natural resources and the ability to harvest and use them wisely.
[โฆ]
โSocieties prosper when government facilitates fair trade, sound money, and protection of property. Prosperity flourishes when governments allow the human spirit and work ethic to be unleashed in a system of free, fair, and open markets.
[โฆ]
โGo to Americans for Prosperity for extensive issues-based information on sound economic practices.โ
Key Deeds
July 30, 2019
Jennifer Fielder spoke at the Heartland Instituteโs 13th International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC13). Video and notable quotes below:17โJennifer Fielder, ICCC13 (Panel 5: Advancing from Theory to Practice),โ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heartland Institute, July 30, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
[00:05:33] โPick, pick a species, any species. And where you see federal land, thereโll be some kind of a species thatโs being utilized to shut down access and activity and proper management and beneficial utilization of the resources there.โ
August 7, 2018
Jennifer Fielder spoke on two panels at the Heartland Instituteโs America First Energy Conference (AFEC). At the panel titled โREINing in the Regulators,โ Fielder blamed the federal governmentโs protections on public lands for slowing the approval process for mining projects:18โJennifer Fielder on Panel 4A: REINing in the Regulators,โ The Heartland Institute, August 10, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
[00:02:13] And then letโs look at how much value in minerals and energy is locked up there. According to the federal governmentโs own reports, one hundred and fifty trillion dollars in mineral values in those lands.
[00:02:26] But most of that is locked up and has been locked up for some time. For example, a mine up in northwest Montana thatโs been itโs actually not a mine yet. Itโs a mine thatโs trying to open the Rock Creek mine.
[00:02:39] Theyโve been in a permitting process for over 30 years now and they are doing everything right. But they keep running into what we call โfederal bureaucrazyโ and serial litigation. And as a result of our resources being locked up, we are seeing continuously the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the state of Montana.
Fielder also argued that lack of โactive vegetation managementโ produces pollution:
[00:09:14] โWell, itโs this hands off management, itโs this preservationist, false narrative that has been projected by the left and this no compromise, hands-off, donโt touch mantra is simply has been driving the policy for far too long. And decisions made by people that donโt live there and donโt understand how proper management of the land really does benefit it. And we have to teach people that our environment is not a museum. Itโs not a museum. Itโs actually more like a garden. Itโs a very slow growing garden, but a garden nonetheless. That, when tended, can benefit man and the environment as well. The lack of active vegetation management, the current the past several decades of federal land management really have been producing primarily dirty air, polluted water, decimated wildlife, blocked off access [โฆ] and thatโs giving us economically devastated, depressed, and unsafe communities.
Fielder concluded:
[00:14:04] โ Itโs a simple fact: actively managed public land is healthy, itโs accessible, itโs fire resilient and economically productive, not just for the timber, but for the minerals and the energy value on those lands as well.โ
Affiliations
- American Lands Council โ President and CEO (December 2015 โ present).19โJennifer Fielder,โ LinkedIn. Accessed March 16, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- Silverline Projects, Inc. โ President (April 1992 โ November 2012).20โJennifer Fielder,โ LinkedIn. Accessed March 16, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
Social Media
Publications
Selected op-eds by Jennifer Fielder:
- โVoices: Fielder addresses endorsement reversal, PSC race and politics,โ Missoula Current, October 16, 2020.
- โIndependent thinker is best choice for Public Service Commission,โ the Missoulian, October 18, 2020.
- โStates can manage their own environment, and theyโre better at it than the federal government,โ The Washington Times, June 18, 2019.
- โLegislative path outlined for state acquisition of federal land: Goals of public land transfer reaffirmed at national conference,โ Missoulian, November 14, 2016.
- โMoving toward local control,โ Las Vegas Review-Journal, November 12, 2016.
- โGuest opinion: Federal land transfer makes sense for states,โ Billings Gazette, November 12, 2016.
- โTime to transfer federal lands to states,โ Independent Record, November 6, 2016.
- โFirst Preparedness Day hits far above expectations,โ February 24, 2016.
- โWhy the Oregon Uprising?โ Flathead Beacon, January 29, 2016.
- โStop public land sales, start studying transfer,โ Missoulian, February 6, 2015.
- โGuest opinion: Task force needed to study transfer of forest, BLM land to state,โ Billings Gazette, January 30, 2015.
- โCharity versus taxation, and hope for the New Year,โ Missoulian, January 2, 2015.
- โGuest opinion: States would do better job of managing federal lands,โ Billings Gazette, October 23, 2014.
Other Resources
- โJennifer Fielderโ on Wikipedia
Resources
- 1โJennifer Fielder,โ LinkedIn. Accessed March 16, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 2โAbout,โ Montana State Senator Jennifer Fielder. Archived March 18, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YJhob
- 3โJennifer Fielder,โ Ballotpedia.
- 4โOur Team,โ American Lands Council. Archived March 16, 2020. Archive.ph URL: https://archive.vn/wip/BKE56
- 5โJennifer Fielder,โ Ballotpedia.
- 6โAbout,โ Montana State Senator Jennifer Fielder. Archived March 18, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/YJhob
- 7โJennifer Fielder,โ Ballotpedia.
- 8โJennifer Fielder, ICCC13 (Panel 5: Advancing from Theory to Practice),โ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heartland Institute, July 30, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
- 9โA Dangerous Idea Resurrected,โ Montana Wilderness Association, October 24, 2019. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/imAqT
- 10Jennifer Fielder. โTransfer of public lands could benefit us all,โ Helena Independent Record, January 18, 2019. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/uSwzd
- 11David Erickson. โPSC candidates Fielder, Tranel talk climate, corporations,โ Missoulian, October 19, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 12Facebook post by Jennifer Fielder, November 13, 2020. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
- 13โEven within the medical profession, there is NOT a consensus on the subject of public masking,โ Facebook post by Jennifer Fielder, July 19, 2020. Archived .png on file at Desmog.
- 14โTell Congress NO on HR 6666!โ TakeActionforFreedom.com. Archived June 1, 2021. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/SmZ0Z
- 15โJennifer Fielder on Panel 4A: REINing in the Regulators,โ The Heartland Institute, August 10, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
- 16โEnvironment,โ Montana State Senator Jennifer Fielder. Archived March 21, 2014. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/GtwU7
- 17โJennifer Fielder, ICCC13 (Panel 5: Advancing from Theory to Practice),โ YouTube video uploaded by user The Heartland Institute, July 30, 2019. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
- 18โJennifer Fielder on Panel 4A: REINing in the Regulators,โ The Heartland Institute, August 10, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
- 19โJennifer Fielder,โ LinkedIn. Accessed March 16, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
- 20โJennifer Fielder,โ LinkedIn. Accessed March 16, 2020. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.