Talking Talons Youth Leadership (TTYL) specializes in connecting youth with the natural world by offering educational programs that give participants an up-close and personal experience with rescued live birds of prey, bats, reptiles, and wilderness environments. Students not only learn about the animals and the environmental issues that threaten them, but also how to convey that information to others through public speaking and peer leadership training. Additionally, our Collaborative Forest Restoration Program (CFRP) is a partnership with other community organizations, businesses, and the US Forest Service to restore a portion of national forest. One of TTYL's roles is to educate youth and adults about what makes a forest healthy, why the forest is overgrown and in need of restoration, and what is being done to achieve this. TTYL also, with the help of student volunteers, collects pre and post data (at approximately 50 different locations within the TTYL CFRP site) to assess the effectiveness of the collaborative restoration effort!