Columnist

Lee Basnar has been a columnist for the Sierra Vista (Arizona) Herald/Bisbee Daily Review since May 2000. In his column “A Different Vista,” he often writes about environmental issues, such as the impact of unmanaged growth on the limited water supply in the southern Arizona desert. He chooses topics of both local and national interest, and he does his research on the ground, out where the people live who must endure politically driven policies.

Illegal immigration across the Mexico border prompted him to ride and walk with a local rancher who interdicts thousands of illegals who cross his ranch. Lee Basnar’s series on border issues resulted in dozens of positive responses from concerned local residents who bear the brunt of the illegal invasion.

Local politicians occasionally feel the sting of his commentary, but his research digs up facts that politicians can’t refute.

The columnist writes humor pieces too. He wrote about ground squirrels that invaded his back yard, the effects of dry heat, getting lost while mowing tall weeds in his back yard, and coping with Alaskan mosquitoes during a vacation in our northernmost state.

The veteran of two tours in Vietnam has written about Vietnam veterans and the impact that war still has on them today, and about a reunion with some of his platoon leaders thirty years after they fought together in Vietnam.

View more of his columns in the Sierra Vista Herald’s archives.