Columnist

Lee Basnar was a columnist for the Sierra Vista (Arizona) Herald/Bisbee Daily Review for nearly eight years. In his Op/Ed column, “A Different Vista,” he often wrote about environmental issues, such as the impact of unmanaged growth on the limited water supply in the southern Arizona desert. He chose topics of both local and national interest, and he did 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 interdicted thousands of illegals who crossed 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 felt the sting of his commentary, but his research dug up facts that politicians couldn’t refute.

The columnist wrote 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 some of his columns in the Sierra Vista Herald’s archives.