MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Meridian Township is allowing qualified residents an opportunity to practice one of their favorite hobbies and preserve the Township all in one.

Since 2010, Meridian Township has had a deer problem including resident complaints of deer eating new vegetation to increased car accidents.

When there are a lot of deer in one area, Senior Parks and Land Management Coordinator Jane Greenway said diseases like Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) can spread. Meridian Township has been working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to solve these problems since CWD was found in the local deer heard in 2015.

“The hunters in our Deer Management Program are assigned to parks and land preserves," Greenway said. "They’re sitting in tree stands shooting down, so it is very safe. They harvest the deer and they are able to keep one deer and the rest gets donated and turned into venison and donated through the local churches and food bank for the hungry."

Greenway stressed that the land preserves are not open for general hunting.