An unusual move by President Bush to promote hunting on federal lands is calling attention to so-called sportsmen’s issues, which presidential candidates have largely neglected on the stump in recent months.

Last week, Mr. Bush issued an executive order instructing federal agencies to “manage wildlife and wildlife habitats on public lands in a manner that expands and enhances hunting opportunities.” The order also encourages federal officials to respect “state management authority over wildlife resources.”

The order was immediately hailed by the National Rifle Association, which described the action as “groundbreaking.”

“Anti-hunting groups have long fought to dismantle public hunting land in an effort to eradicate America’s sporting heritage,” the NRA’s chief lobbyist, Christopher Cox, said in a written statement. “The President’s order will safeguard our treasured hunting heritage for generations to come.”

The executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Jeffrey Ruch, said Mr. Bush seemed to be declaring a policy of “hunting über alles,” putting hunting ahead of all other uses of public land. “We’re not anti-hunting, but … you might as well have said the most important activity in a park is skateboarding,” Mr. Ruch said. “The notion that we’re supposed to maximize the number of deer and elk so they can end up as trophies on somebody’s wall would make most biologists in government agencies sort of shudder.”
“It seems to be a symbolic gesture of throwing a bone to the NRA,” a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States, Michael Markarian, said. “We don’t think it will have much real-life impact.”

A political strategist who has urged Democrats to take a moderate stance on gun issues, James Kessler, said the order appeared to be intended to reinject such questions into the presidential race. “It could be a reminder to gun owners and hunters that ‘There’s a difference between Republicans and Democrats on these issues, and don’t you forget it,'” Mr. Kessler said. “It comes at a time when the issue has been way, way on the back burner.”

So far, the only major presidential candidate to offer a direct response to Mr. Bush’s order is Governor Richardson of New Mexico, a Democrat. “I believe it is the right of our citizens to enjoy our magnificent public lands, and I’ve worked to expand access for hunters and fishermen to lands throughout the state,” he said in an e-mail yesterday responding to a query from The New York Sun.

However, Mr. Richardson said he was dubious that the Bush administration really intended to reject leases for oil drilling in order to preserve land for hunting. “If the White House’s new policy means an end to unabashedly pro-corporate exploitation of our natural resources, then I welcome the change,” the governor said. “I just hope it’s not another empty promise.”

Mr. Richardson, who gets high marks from the NRA, is the only major Democratic presidential candidate who has made a concerted effort to appeal to sportsmen and gun owners. Earlier this year, his office released photos of him hunting exotic game on a New Mexico ranch owned by the founder of CNN, Ted Turner. Mr. Richardson voted against a federal ban on assault weapons and signed legislation allowing citizens to carry concealed firearms.

The leading Democratic candidates, Senator Clinton, Senator Obama of Illinois, and a former senator from North Carolina, John Edwards, did not respond to inquiries for this article. All have supported gun control measures, as have many of the Republican hopefuls.

“Three of the four leading Republican candidates have what the NRA would consider awful records on guns,” Mr. Kessler said.

A former Massachusetts governor in the Republican field, Mitt Romney, “supports expanded hunting opportunities for sportsmen, but he also believes the federal government should work closely with the states on the use of public lands, and that the unique circumstances and needs of each state should be taken into consideration,” a spokesman, Eric Fehrnstrom, said.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Giuliani, Maria Comella, said the former mayor supports Second Amendment rights and the rights of hunters. The campaigns of Senator McCain of Arizona and a former senator from Tennessee, Fred Thompson, did not respond to requests for comment.

A Democratic lawmaker who co-chairs the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, Ron Kind of Wisconsin, said he was puzzled by Mr. Bush’s order. “What I want to learn is whether this was a solution in search of a problem,” Mr. Kind said. “Already, most of the national wildlife refuges have access for hunting. I live on one of the largest wildlife refuges and I’m out here duck hunting all the time.”

Mr. Kind commended Mr. Richardson for addressing questions of land rights for hunting, fishing, birdwatching, and similar activities. “It’d be helpful for all the candidates to go out and issue specific policy statements,” the congressman said.

Mr. Kind said Democrats are undoing their anti-gun reputation in part because Democratic leaders in Congress have steered clear of contentious gun control issues that could antagonize sportsmen. “You can have people supportive of this community and their needs that don’t particularly engage in these activities themselves. I think that’s what Mitt Romney is counting on,” the congressman added, referring to questions about the Massachusetts governor’s claims to have hunted regularly when he was younger.

Mr. Bush’s order may have been prompted by debates over the use of private hunters to cull excess numbers of elk in national parks in Colorado and North Dakota. The order favors such action, which may run afoul of current law. Rep. Mark Udall, a Democrat of Colorado, has introduced legislation to allow for public participation in such a cull.