Stem cell oversight appointments made

On Nov. 17 the regents OK'd five appointments to the 29-member Independent Citizens Oversight Commission that will govern the Proposition 71 stem cell research institute approved by California voters on Nov. 2.

Chancellors of the five UC campuses with a medical center each appointed an executive officer to an eight-year term on the commission. Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef appointed Claire Pomeroy, who recently was named vice chancellor for human health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at UC Davis starting Feb. 1.

Oher appointees for eight-year terms are: Susan Bryant, dean of the UC Irvine School of Biological Sciences; Gerald Levey, vice chancellor of medical sciences at UCLA; Edward Holmes, vice chancellor for health sciences at San Diego; and David Kessler, medical school dean at UCSF.

Campus activity with Conaway Ranch OK'd

UC Davis will become a full, voting member of the joint powers authority that has begun to develop a plan to manage the 17,000-acre Conaway Ranch as a public resource.

UC regents authorized UC Davis' membership Nov. 19. The authority was formed in June by public agencies in Yolo County, including the Yolo County Board of Supervisors: the cities of Davis, Woodland, Winters and West Sacramento: and the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. UC Davis has, until now, participated as a non-voting board member.

Conaway Ranch lies in east-central Yolo County, west of the Sacramento River between Interstates 5 and 80. It is used largely for growing rice, safflower, corn and other seasonal crops. It also has producing oil and gas wells. Half the property lies within the Yolo Bypass and Cache Creek Settling Basin, which provide flood control and wildlife habitat. The property has significant water rights, including 51,000 acre feet of water per year from the river, 10,000 acre feet per year from Cache Creek and 21 deep groundwater wells.

It is owned by The Conaway Ranch Co., a subsidiary of National Energy and Gas Transmission Inc., which is owned by PG&E Corp. NEGT is in bankruptcy and has said it intends to sell the ranch.

Yolo County recently started eminent domain proceedings to buy the ranch, with the intention of selling it to the joint powers authority. The authority has been asked to develop a plan to manage the property -- to protect it as a regional resource for water, agricultural production, flood control, open space and rural recreation, and wildlife habitat.

The next meeting is set for Jan. 26. Agendas are posted at http://www.yolocounty.org/org/bos/agendas/agendas.html.