The site, 17 miles west and north of Delta, was technically known as the Central Utah Relocation Center. It is overseen by the museum, whose Web site is www.topazcamp

.org.

"Most of the residents of Topaz were from northern California, especially the San Francisco Bay area," says the department's release. "More professional artists were confined at Topaz than at any other camp."

National historic landmarks are recommended by the National Park System Advisory Board and designated by the secretary of the Interior Department. Fewer than 2,500 sites have that designation.

Utah has only 12 national historic landmarks, said Beckwith, "so we don't hear about them very much." More than 150 have been established in California.

With the action Wednesday, "We hope that Utahns will be more interested in all the national historic landmarks, not just ours," she added.

Backers of landmark status submitted an application to the Park Service and waited. "Then today I heard that it had passed," Beckwith said.

Last December, President Bush signed a bill saying that $38 million should be set aside to identify, research, interpret and protect the 10 internment camps. But the money hasn't been allocated yet, she noted. "Sometimes it takes years" for the money to actually arrive.

Will designation as a national historic landmark put Topaz on the map?

"Well, we're going to have a ceremony on June 30," Beckwith replied. "That will be our pilgrimage, and we're going to invite some political people, and we'll see if they come."

If they do, she said, "that will be great."

The United States did not formally apologize to internment camp survivors until 1988. Some reparations were paid, but by then many of the internees were no longer alive.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com