Yellow and brown smog often fills northern Utah's valleys as cars clog our freeways.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wants to turn over management of thousands of acres of roadless U.S. Forest lands to county commissioners, who too often have displayed only a willingness to exploit land we all own for short-term booms at the expense of a long-term vision.

The Bureau of Land Management seems hell-bent on ignoring its multiple-use mandates in a mad dash to exploit every last drop of oil and natural gas.

In sprawling Washington County, Utah Sen. Bob Bennett and Rep. Jim Matheson want to fuel poorly planned growth by selling public lands.

Utah seems too willing to give up thousands of gallons of west desert water to Las Vegas without a thought as to how it might impact the Great Salt Lake or fragile basin and range ecosystems.

With all these developments, I picked up my copy of Dr. Seuss' classic environmental cautionary tale, The Lorax. I open it from time to time seeking its simple wisdom.

The book's villain, the aptly named Once-ler, ignores repeated warnings from the Lorax, who protects the forest. The Once-ler chops down a forest of trees to make Thneed, which he sells for "three ninety-eight."

The Once-ler is not inherently evil. He employs family and friends, and feels he is doing good by the world while making plenty of cash for himself.

"Business is business! And business must grow," exclaims the Once-ler.

The results of his tree harvest are predictable. As he builds a factory and cuts down every tree, polluted skies and fouled water drive nearly every creature away from the once-thriving forest. When the last tree falls, the Once-ler must close his business. He becomes bitter and lonely, holed up in a shack, waiting to give a young boy the last tree seed in hopes of reversing what he has done.

Is this children's tale too simple of a way to explain the more complex modern world?

Most certainly.

Still, those who run our local, state and national governments as well as more than a few businesses remind me of the Once-ler, too often looking at short-term gains while ignoring long-term consequences.

Must we exploit every drop of water, burn fossil fuels as fast as we can find them, grow our cities with little thought to the future and continue to drive gas-guzzling vehicles?

In the final pages of the book, the Lorax leaves a one-word message to the Once-ler as he leaves a once idyllic forest that has been destroyed by short-sighted greed: "Unless."

Unless we start thinking of our grandchildren, unless we learn to plan better, to conserve more and perhaps use wilderness and roadless designations to conserve our planet's beauty and resources for future generations, our country's future and, with global warming, our planet may be threatened.

We are all at fault in our own small ways, part of a larger problem. Who will be our Lorax, who "speaks for the trees, for the trees have no tongues"?

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* TOM WHARTON can be contacted at wharton@sltrib.com or 801-257-8909. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.