Jim Corbett  1933-2001

A rancher, writer, philosopher, and humanitarian, Corbett was educated at Harvard in philosophy before settling in the Southwest as a rancher. In the early 80s he began to smuggle Central American refugees across the U.S.-Mexico border, due to their inhumane treatment by federal officials in the U.S. and the governments of their countries.  He considered this an act of civil duty, and shepherded hundreds of refugees to the United States.  In 1985 Corbett was one of eleven defendants in the Arizona Sanctuary Trial, and one of the three acquitted. After his trial, Corbett continued his work smuggling refugees, arguing that what he was doing was not civil disobedience, but civil initiative to help uphold asylum laws.

Bendire’s Thrasher populations declined by an estimated 4% per year between 1968 and 2015, resulting in a cumulative decline of about 86% during that time. If current rates of decline continue, Bendire's Thrasher will lose another half of its population by 2035.