Congress Boosts National Park Service Budget by $130 Million to $2.7 Billion

Congress on Thursday gave the National Park Service a 9 percent budget bump, one that translates into a $130 million boost above the appropriation sought by President Obama. If signed by the president, which is expected to prevent the government from grinding to a halt this weekend, the Park Service's Fiscal 2010 budget will stand at $2.7 billion.

Not surprisingly, the budget bill sent to the president is a mixed bag. While the extra $130 million should help the Park Service address climate change issues, inholdings that it might not otherwise be able to afford to purchase, and hire more rangers, there's also language in the measure that possibly could allow an oyster farm to continue to operate in Point Reyes National Seashore waters that the Park Service wants to see designated as wilderness.

And while the Interior Department was given $475 million to pay for work to clean up the Great Lakes, the bill falls $10 million shy of the president's request for $25 million to be placed into a matching grant program for Park Service needs.

"The bill approved by Congress tonight increases critical funding for the annual operating needs of the national parks as well as vital investments in the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the preservation of America’s Everglades, Great Lakes, and other nationally-significant ecosystems," said Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association. "This bill demonstrates a concerted effort by Congress and the Administration to restore our national treasures in time for the 2016 centennial of the National Park Service."

Also missing from the bill, according to NPCA, was an amendment that "would have allowed a public elk hunt at Theodore Roosevelt National Park."

"The Park Service is now developing strategies for controlling the park’s burgeoning elk population," said Mr. Kiernan.