2017 Youth Mentor Award

Brian Salt started helping injured wildlife in the mid-1990s and quickly came to recognize the crucial importance of the work and the vital need to educate the public, especially youth, about respecting wild animals. In 2004, Salt founded the non-profit organization, Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Centre. It began with a handful of volunteers and five acres of rented farmland. Its mission was the care and rehabilitation of sick, injured or orphaned wildlife with the goal of returning healthy animals to their natural habitat while increasing public awareness. In 2014, Salthaven West was launched in Saskatoon by a former youth volunteer.

WHAT HIS NOMINATORS SAID

• “Brian has mentored about 1,000 Canadian youth volunteers over the past 13 years as founder and president of Salthaven. His guidance and support allowed them to develop skills and hands-on experience to pursue careers in veterinary medicine and wildlife rehabilitation. In addition to hands-on mentoring, he has created educational presentations, webinars and videos dedicated to encouraging the general public and specifically young Canadians to conserve, protect and respect wildlife.”
• “Since educating the public on the plight of wildlife is an integral part of Salthaven’s mission. Brian offers online webinars and delivers environmental presentations to schools, service clubs, community groups, retirement homes and corporations, planting the seed of wildlife conservation and demonstrating the steps we can all take to help the ecosystem within our backyard.”

Visit salthaven.org to learn more about the organization and its work.