# @wmnf885 on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DU3eDyfDbOU
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70139909-wmnf885-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/04606f79da.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-02-17T17:04:04.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** WMNF Community Radio (@wmnf885) — https://gondola.cc/wmnf885

## Caption

After Sarasota County staff was preparing to deny a permit to remove protected mangroves from publicly owned shoreline along Lemon Bay in December 2023, Commissioner Ron Cutsinger pushed to have the county abandon that same land next to property he owned and a nearby parcel he later purchased, newly obtained public records show.

The public land — conveyed to the county in 1998 as part of a preservation gift — later disappeared from the Property Appraiser’s public map after a meeting prompted by Cutsinger.

The land was zoned open use conservation by a 1975 county ordinance and sits next to the Lemon Bay Aquatic Preserve. Aquatic preserves are state-owned sovereign submerged lands in areas which have exceptional biological, aesthetic, and scientific value. Mangroves act as natural protection for shorelines and support biodiversity by serving as critical nurseries for fish and wildlife. 

The records show a rapid shift in approach within weeks of the planned denial of the permit Cutsinger sought. After Planning Director Matthew Osterhoudt was informed that staff intended to deny the permit, he directed that no formal action be taken until meetings were held.

At least seven internal meetings followed the pause. Attendance differed across the sessions, but participants included county legal staff, the county administrator, and, at times, Cutsinger. During that same period, staff began discussing a survey in anticipation of abandoning the public land.

By the time of a March 5, 2024 commission meeting, the issue had moved from whether mangroves could be trimmed in a county right-of-way to whether the county should abandon the property and vacate the right-of-way altogether - steps Cutsinger helped set in motion.

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#WMNF #Conservation #SarasotaCounty #Environment #LocalNews

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## Tags

conservation, localnews, sarasotacounty, environment, wmnf

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