Bartlesville attorney Jess M. Kane, 39, began serving an eight-year term July 2, 2021, representing District 1 on the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Kane, the current Bartlesville city attorney, was appointed in January to succeed Commissioner Robert S. Hughes II of Bartlesville, whose appointment expired July 1, 2021.
In appointing Kane to the Commission, Gov. Kevin Stitt said, "Jess Kane is an experienced attorney and rancher from rural Oklahoma who understands the importance of our land and wildlife. I look forward to him bringing his strong agriculture perspective to the Commission to help foster wildlife conservation efforts across our state."
Kane is a fifth-generation rancher, having grown up on his family’s diversified cow/calf, stocker and grain-farming operation headquartered in Bartlesville.
"The joy of observing and hunting game is one of the greatest dividends of successful farm and ranch management," Kane said.
"In an industry not known for prodigious profits, this return is of high value to farmers and ranchers. I hope to add this perspective to the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission and will be honored to help preserve Oklahoma’s long heritage of wildlife conservation."
Kane is a partner with his brother, Richard, in Clover Leaf Cattle Co. LLC, a stocker enterprise with operations on owned and leased land in Washington and Rogers counties in Oklahoma and Kiowa County, Kansas. Additionally, Jess and his wife, Ashley, are partners in a cow herd based in Tillman County, Oklahoma.
He is active with the Oklahoma Beef Council, the Federation of State Beef Councils, and the Oklahoma Cattlemens Association, where he served as a former director.
Kane holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of the South (Sewanee, Tenn.), a certificate of ranch management from the Texas Christian University Ranch Management Program, and a juris doctorate from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He has practiced law with the firm Robinett, King, Elias, Buhlinger, Brown & Kane with offices in Bartlesville and Pawhuska since 2009, and he was named a partner in that firm in 2015.
The Kanes have two children: Sammy, 9, and Bobby, 6.
The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission is the eight-member governing board of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. The Commission establishes state hunting and fishing regulations, sets policy for the Wildlife Department and indirectly oversees all state fish and wildlife conservation activities. Commission members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Oklahoma Senate.