This episode’s topic is on The Love of the Land and is explored in two parts. For part one, which aired May 4 2025, Jon Thaxton discusses land preservation and stewardship as a practical, spiritual and vitalizing life-long practice. For part two, released live on WSLR on May 18 2025, Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder will discuss her new book, Mother, Creature, Kin: What We Learn from Nature's Mothers in a Time of Unraveling.

Jon Thaxton is a fifth-generation Sarasotan. His family moved here in 1887. Like many others at the time, it was agriculture that brought them here.

Late last month, he was appointed to the Sarasota County Planning Commission’s volunteer advisory board. He first served on the Planning Commission from 1997 to 2000, followed by three terms on the County Commission from 2000 to 2012. He’s had an interest in planning since high school, when he sent a hand-drawn map to show how a realignment of the proposed I-75 could avoid the greatest harm to wetlands in our county. His map wasn’t considered, unfortunately.

Even so, his life has been driven by an understanding that conservation lands are critical for mind, body and spirit. In fact, he’s been involved in just about every preservation of park conservation lands or endangered lands over the past 45 years. Spaces you may now enjoy, like The Bay Park downtown, the extension of the Legacy Trail, Oscar-Scherer State Park and Red Bug Slough, just to name a few. He has also led a multidisciplinary team of experts to create the Water Quality Playbook.

But it’s not only about flora and fauna and water flows. He’s a strong advocate for affordable housing and has provided leadership in the creation of a system of care for the homeless as well as a food distribution system focusing on healthy and nutritious foods. Currently, he is the chair of Sarasota County’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and director of policy and advocacy at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
The song Something To Love by The Quiet American was used with permission from the artist.