Kaycee Royer graduated from the University of Idaho with an undergraduate degree in Agricultural Economics. After obtaining her undergraduate degree, Kaycee attended the University of Idaho’s College of Law obtaining a J.D. cum laude. Kaycee was the Co-President of the Federalist Society’s Idaho Student Chapter. She also served as the Chief Symposium Editor for the Idaho Law Review, successfully hosting the largest symposium in the history of the Review on the topic of livestock grazing on public lands.
Growing up on a ranch in rural Idaho, Kaycee learned the importance of property rights and balanced environmental regulation. As she grew older, she was exposed to the many injustices faced by farmers and ranchers and developed a passion for being a voice for them in the legal community. During law school, Kaycee had the opportunity to represent water users as a legislative intern at both Idaho Water Users Association in Boise, Idaho and at National Water Resources Association in Washington, D.C.
Kaycee enjoys spending time reading books, cooking, traveling, and downhill skiing.
In 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated as critical habitat some 14,000 acres of land and 170 miles of streams in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico for the jumping mouse. The designation severely limits ranchers’ access to grazing land and watering spots and, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service, adds $20 million in regul ...
Mr. Pakdel is a small business owner in Ohio. In 2009 he bought what’s known as a “tenancy in common” (TIC) apartment in San Francisco and leased it to a residential tenant. As part of the purchase, Pakdel signed an agreement with the other owners to convert the building’s six units into condominiums. But the City of San Fra ...
A buffalo rancher by trade, Ken Klemm also uses his 4,000-acre ranch in Kansas for conservation efforts. In fact, Klemm works with the Kansas Natural Resource Coalition (KNRC) to implement a conservation plan for the lesser prairie chicken. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers such local collaboration for determining endangered listings und ...
Like many western U.S. ranching families, the Picketts have worked on the same land in Idaho for many generations and have a thriving business selling naturally raised beef. And like many ranchers, their business depends on grazing permissions on federal land. But their livelihoods are threatened by rules that set aside over 65-million acres of fed ...
Representing the California Cattlemen’s Association, PLF filed a petition for writ of mandamus to have declared unlawful the department’s failure to conduct mandatory 5-year status reviews of 233 plant and animal species listed as “endangered” or “threatened” under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). By ...
In environmental litigation, preliminary injunctions—orders from the court for a defendant to stop challenged activities while a case proceeds—are a way of life. Environmental plaintiffs routinely seek and obtain preliminary injunctions that can grind expensive, multi-year projects to a standstill. They do so because courts “presume” ...
Should federal executive branch agencies be accountable to Congress? For most people, the common-sense answer to that question is "yes." Yet PLF attorneys regularly go head-to-head with government lawyers who seem to believe their agencies should be immune from such basic accountability. Case in point: Today, PLF was in federal court in Idaho for o ...
The Service claims it is exempt from Regulatory Flexibility Act requirements because critical habitat designations impact only other federal agencies. But this claim is in error. While critical habitat designations do require federal agencies to manage critical habitat, the restrictions of the designations also directly affect small businesses, ma ...
???Yesterday,? PLF filed comments on Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) proposed amendments to the Greater Sage-Grouse Resource Management Plans in Colorado, ?Idaho, Oregon, Nevada and Northeastern Californian, Utah, and ?Wyoming. The Greater Sage-Grouse is a large ground-dwelling bird. Its habitat is spread across eleven western states where it res ...
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Washington v. United States. This case dealt directly with whether various Indian Tribes in the Puget Sound could require the state of Washington to rebuild road culverts throughout the state to increase salmon populations (see our previous blog post here). PLF filed an amicus brief arguing ...
Originally published by Capital Press June 11, 2018. Under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is required to conduct status reviews of species listed as either threatened or endangered every five years. The department has unlawfully failed to conduct these five-year status reviews for ...
Yesterday, PLF successfully defeated an attempt to dismiss its lawsuit that would require the government to follow its own laws and regulations. At issue is the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which requires that the government conduct an economic analysis on the costs to small businesses whenever it regulates them. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife S ...