After having a dying red oak removed from their property, homeowners Beth Goodpaster and Rick Duncan decided to do something different with the tree’s stump. They contacted Curtis Ingvoldstad, a Minnesota chainsaw artist, who worked his magic by commemorating Dr. Seuss’ character The Lorax, famous for defending Truffula trees against the greedy industrialist The Once-ler.

The couple, both conservationists and environmental attorneys, asked Ingvoldstad to carve the word “UNLESS” into the stump to emphasize a point of hope from Dr. Seuss’ story, written soon after the first Earth Day in 1970. The book ends with a final plea: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Curtis Ingvoldstad

Goodpaster consulted with Ingvoldstad to decide on The Lorax’s pose, City Pages reported. “We didn’t want his arms sticking way out,” she said. “Curtis was thinking he should have a nice pensive look to him.”

While Goodpaster and Duncan said they miss their tree and the shade it provided, they do enjoy the response they receive from people passing by who are hiking the Minnehaha Creek Trail near their Minnesota home.

“It’s bringing some joy, so we are happy about that,” Goodpaster said.