I wish I could reproduce the passages from memory but as I recall, Tolkien as narrator in LOTR abhorred the cutting down of trees and the development that went on. His protagonists are all nature lovers in the original form, some very direct ones (walking trees, eagles etc) and the antagonists all want to cut down trees and build towns over them and so forth.

It is likely that the witch king and the Nazgul are trying to get an industrial revolution going and the heroes keep cutting interrupting their attempts each 11k years or so.