A massive omnibus budget bill, if passed by Congress, promises to deliver some early holiday cheer to the National Park Service with a nearly 10 percent increase in discretionary funding, according to an analysis by the National Parks Conservation Association.

"We're so grateful to appropriators for providing this needed funding for national parks. It's the best bill for national parks that we have seen in years," John Garder, NPCA's director of budgets and appropriations, said this morning after reviewing the bill that was finalized overnight. "The funding to operate national parks is the highest level we've seen in many years, and erases the cuts of the last five years, largely erases."

While the measure does not meet the president's full budget request for the National Park Service, it contains a 4.1 percent increase in operational funds, provides big bumps in Land and Water Conservation Fund dollars, construction funds that can be used to tackle needed maintenance projects, historic preservation funds, and partnership dollars that are designed to boost private contributions as the National Park Service approaches its centennial in August 2016.

Overall, the bill provides the Park Service with a 9.1 percent increase in discretionary funding. It still needs to be passed by both chambers of Congress, however, but Mr. Garder thought that was just a formality.

"I haven't followed larger news, but I can't imagine that this won't be passed and signed by the president in the coming days," he said. "There's something for everyone in there. It's a deal. Republications have something to be happy about, Democrats have someting to be happy about."

National Park Service officials had no immediate comment, as they were reviewing the measure. 

Here's a look at what's in the bill:

* $2.3 billion for the Park Service for Fiscal 2016, a 4.1 percent increase from FY15 funding, though down from the president's $2.5 billion request;

* $15 million for park partnerships, a 50 percent increase from FY15, though far below the president's $50 million request;

* $65.4 million for historic preservation, a 16 percent increase from FY15 levels;

* $192.9 million for construction, a 39.5 percent increase from FY15, though shy of the $250.9 million the president had sought;

* $173.7 million in LWCF appropriations, of which $33 million would be for federal LWCF projects that will fund more than 20 projects throughout the country. The measure also carries a three-year extension of the program’s funding stream from offshore drilling receipts, and;

* Everglades restoration funding equal to the president’s budget request, including $123.7 million for construction for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – an 80 increase over FY15 funding. 

"This funding is really important for the Park Service to serve an expected increase in visitors for their centennial year and we hope that this will be the beginning of a trajectory to restore the funds needed for national parks," said Mr. Garder. "We hope that Congress will build on this investment by supporting centennial legislation. We're hoping for more robust support in the cetennial bill."

The partnership funding is part of the president's proposal to boost funding for the Park Service, and requires a 1-1 match of private dollars to release the federal appropriation.

"The Park Service has been clear, on the record, that there is enough non-federal interest to match their proposed $100 million for this centennial," said Mr. Garder.

The construction dollars can be used to address a number of line-item construction projects already identified by the Park Service, such as updated electrical wiring at the Many Glacier Hotel in Glacier National Park in Montana, safety issues at the Kennecott Mine in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in Alaska, and stabilization of Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida.

The LWCF dollars are "going to cover almost every project the president requested, so more than 20 parks," the NPCA official said. "It's a three-year authorization. It's not the permanent authorization that people had been wanting."