The establishment of a U.S. Department of Agriculture plan to improve fish and wildlife habitat and water quality in the Gulf of Mexico watershed drew praise from American sportsmen, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership announced Tuesday.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) will fight the proposal by the Obama administration and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to drastically restrict recreational shooting opportunities on public lands.

Today the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 2834, the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act. This bill would protect fishing, hunting and recreational shooting on federal lands.

Farmers and ranchers attending the 2011 San Antonio International Farm and Ranch Show on Nov. 10-12 at the Freeman Coliseum Expo Hall, 3201 East Houston Street, will have the opportunity to learn how to use the Web Soil Survey (WSS) at the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) booth. NRCS specialists will also be on hand to visit with landowners about the free conservation technical and financial assistance programs to help them meet their short and long-term land management goals.

The sportfishing industry commends the bi-partisan House of Representatives members from the five Gulf Coast states for their efforts to direct much-needed funding to the Gulf of Mexico region for economic and environmental recovery in the aftermath of the April 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.