(CNN) Forget about the Truffula trees. The Lorax is now saving real-life forests.

A panel of federal judges in Virginia cited the beloved Dr. Seuss character to block the construction of an underground gas pipeline that would cross two national forests and a portion of the Appalachian Trail.

"We trust the United States Forest Service to 'speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues,'" the panel's ruling states, citing Seuss' orange environmental ambassador.

The decision, issued last week by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, says the US Forest Service failed to preserve national forest resources when it authorized the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline

The underground natural gas pipeline is being built by Dominion Energy, a Virginia power company, and would stretch 604.5 miles across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

Read More