In 1878 the Legislature set aside 50,000 acres of Public Trust Fund Lands as a State Park in scattered timbered tracts in Lincoln, Iron, Vilas, and Oneida Counties, but because no effort was made to develop them, the Legislature in 1897 rescinded that action and the lands were sold in subsequent years. Many Wisconsin citizens believed that areas of statewide significance should be acquired for the use and inspiration of the people, and at the Dalles of the St. Croix this public interest first took form. Harry D. Baker of St. Croix Falls and George H. Hazard of Taylors Falls led groups from their respective states to acquire land on both sides of the river for an interstate park. In 1895 their efforts led the Wisconsin Legislature to authorize a Commission for the Interstate Park at the Dalles of the St. Croix, and under its direction the first land was acquired in 1900. Still dedicated to the original concepts for public use, state parks were developed in all parts of Wisconsin, including sites of historic, archeologic, and geologic value as well as thousands of acres of some of the state's finest natural scenery.