The National Park Service was given an additional $130 million for their 2010 fiscal year budget by Congress on Thursday. That brings the total NPS budget for next year to $2.7 billion. While the increased funds would allow the Park Service to hire more rangers, address climate change issues, and purchase inholdings, the budget bill has received mixed reactions.

The language of the bill allows the possibility for an oyster farm to continue operation in Point Reyes National Seashore, land that the Park Service wants to convert and designate as wilderness. The budget bill also fell $10 million short of the President’s request for $25 million to be placed into a matching grant program for the Park Service.

Tom Kiernan, president of the National Parks Conservation Association, stated Thursday that, “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.” He continued, “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.”

-via National Parks Traveler