Kirsten Ronholt

Kirsten Rønholt is a member of Best Best & Kriger LLP’s (BBK) Municipal Law practice. She brings a wealth of experience in federal public works construction, water resources development, land use, environmental and natural resources law, and dispute resolution to her public agency clients. 

Kirsten has held a variety of senior leadership positions within the U.S. Army and Department of the Interior, and uses this legal and regulatory experience to help her clients navigate complex compliance and permitting requirements. Kirsten most recently served as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) with Interior’s Office of Hearings and Appeals, where she resolved legal challenges to the disposal, acquisition, or use of public lands across the country. Prior to that role, Kirsten spent several years as Chief of Counsel for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Los Angeles District, where she advised the District’s corporate board on delivering critical domestic infrastructure improvements across the Southwest.

Kirsten advises her clients on a variety of legal requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), Clean Water Act (i.e., Section 404(b) permitting and jurisdictional determinations), and Rivers and Harbors Act (i.e., Section 9, Section 10, and Section 14 / Section 408 permitting), and other regulatory and procedural hurdles to construction. She has extensive experience in all phases of project planning and pre-engineering design, construction, and operation and maintenance of major public infrastructure projects that enables Kirsten to provide the regulatory, legislative, and policy guidance counsel that her clients need. 

Kirsten has a love of hiking, devotion to USC football, and lukewarm feelings about the marathons she keeps running. Kirsten continues to serve as a Reserves JAG with the U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence and the Network Enterprise Technology Command, the Army’s centers for cyber and intel law, training, and expertise.