Fond du Lac industrialist and engineering genius Elmer Carl Kiekhaefer worked to preserve the environmental integrity of the Taycheedah community. In 1970, he led opposition to negotiations between Fond du Lac and the Town of Taycheedah to convert an abandoned gravel pit into a landfill. As an owner of nearly 800 acres in the community, he recognized the harm a landfill would bring to the Taycheedah ecosystem. He also envisioned Taycheedah as a year-round recreation area and as a prime location for residential development. After initially failing to stop the proposal, he offered to buy the 150-acre gravel pit and donate it to Taycheedah on the condition that it never be used as a landfill, and the town accepted. He also donated partial funds for construction of a town hall and later financed development of the park and snowmobile track there. During the park's dedication on May 16, 1970, he marked the site's new era by driving a tractor that gave wagon rides through the new park.