COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Birds of prey will be celebrated and a lucky visitor will get to release a rehabilitated red-tailed hawk in a special event scheduled for 2 p.m., on Sunday, Sept. 3, at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

The park is partnering with the Nature and Raptor Center of Pueblo to offer visitors an intimate look at birds of prey in a program designed to educate about the important role they play in the ecology of our area.

The program by Diana Miller, director of the Nature and Raptor Center, will feature live birds that are also found at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

The highlight of her presentation will be the release of a rehabilitated red-tailed hawk into the wild. A lucky visitor will get to set the hawk free, returning it to its natural environment.

The opportunity to free the hawk will be raffled off at $2 per ticket, or 3 tickets for $5. Proceeds from the raffle will go directly to the raptor center, a nonprofit organization that annually takes in about 150 birds in need of care from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Raffle tickets will go on sale at 1 p.m. and can be purchased at the event. The raffle winner will be drawn during the presentation and must be present to win.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hold a wild hawk and send it back into the wild. The release is weather-permitting.

As always, the raptor program is free, but a $7 daily park pass is required.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park is located at 410 JL Ranch Heights Road, south of Colorado Springs, off Colorado Highway 115. From the city, take Nevada Avenue south and it turns into Highway 115. JL Ranch Heights Road is opposite the Main Gate One entrance to Fort Carson.

For more information, call 719-576-2016 or visit, http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/Parks/CheyenneMountain/

CPW is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 41 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW’s work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.