The rapid destruction of the forests of southern Appalachia led to increased efforts by conservationists to slow or halt logging operations. Col. Townsend initially opposed the effort, but after some wavering, sold at base price of his Little River Lumber tract in 1926 to what would eventually become the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Townsend lived near Elkmont in a now-historic Swiss-style chalet he called Spindle Top, where he would die in 1936. Although some predicted that the loss of the lumber industry would doom Tuckaleechee, the explosion in tourism as a result of the park's founding contributed to the area economy, keeping it relatively healthy, even though the first resort hotel (Appalachian Club) burned in 1932 (and was restored) and the other, the historic Wonderland Hotel at Elkmont collapsed in 2005 and arson destroyed the remainder (and some historic cottages) in 2017.