The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: September tenth, looking at the many passports of the national parks.

Many travelers are collectors. Some gather match books from exotic places; others bring home national parks.

It's been over a decade since the National Parks Service issued its first passport, a spiral-bound guide to America's blue chip natural attractions. Apart from maps of national parks, battlefields and monuments, this passport accommodates two collections.

The first are colorful stamps released each year in blocks of ten. Each edition costs a dollar and is sold in national park gift shops. Stamps from back years can be ordered by mail or on-line.

The other collection costs less money but requires more effort. It consists of free, postmark-like cancellations that can only be obtained with a personal visit to any of the 360 plus sites in the National Park System. To get your passport stamped, seek out the ranger who keeps the local ink pad. When the system started, cancellations for the country were divided into nine regions, each with its own ink color. Now, many rangers have taken to stamping the passports in black.

Apart from incentives obvious to any collector, the park passport provides other advantages. It identifies you as a serious visitor, and may merit you extra attention from a ranger who knows and loves the park. Passports cost $5 dollars and are sold in park gift shops.

And of course, the Park Service also offers a range of inexpensive annual passes that provide individuals, families and seniors unlimited access to the incredible bounties of America's National Natural Treasure house. Tomorrow, we'll visit the crown jewel.

FMI For information on the National Park Service passes and passports: www.nps.gov

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