In the 1930s, preservationists including Horace Kephart and George Masa worked to raise the awareness and funds needed to prevent lumber companies from logging the old-growth forest in the Great Smoky Mountains. When philanthropist John D. Rockefeller learned about these efforts to block deforestation, he pledged to fund the project that would turn the region into a national park. While this was a victory for conservationists, the project took land from the Cherokee and white families that had long owned homes in the area comprising the preserve. This conflict highlights an ongoing tension in the U.S. between higher-level federal democracy and local needs.