by Bill Stauffer

The effort to obtain the two waterfront lots that were owned by the late David Putnam began in the fall of 2017. The lots were listed at a combined price of $668,000, a sum that the small long-range planning group on LDI knew was not realistic for the island to raise. Still, the group received permission from the Little Diamond Island Association to attempt negotiating with the seller. An offer of $200,000 for just the upper lot was rejected. In the meantime, we watched with some trepidation as potential buyers came and went, scoping out these two beautiful lots for potential building sites.

The monarch butterfly population in North America has plummeted by over 90% in just the last 20 years. One of the biggest factors in monarch decline is the increasing scarcity of its only caterpillar host plant: milkweed. Without milkweed, monarchs can’t successfully reproduce and the species declines. By planting milkweed in your own garden and throughout your community, you can help reverse the fortune of these beautiful insects.