Into The Woods

[Inziladun]

I pretty much agree with what others have said: the fact that "forests" weren't all over the maps doesn't necessarily indicate an absence of trees, except in cases where the bareness of the land was specifically described, such as the Brown Lands and Eregion.
There are trees everywhere in the area in which I live, but my community isn't known as being in a "forest".

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

I know that the Australian rainforest actually needs the occasional forest fire to regenerate so even if Sauron's force burned the lands of Eriador when Ost in Edhil was destroyed and Rivendell besieges I can't quite see why the trees wouldn't have made more of a return given that the climate wasn't hostile.

There's a mention of that very condition in ROTK Appendix A. The Witch-king might have had a hand in somehow altering the climate there.

It is said that Angmar was for a time subdued by the Elvenfolk coming from Lindon: and from Rivendell....It was at this time that the Stoors that had dwelt in the Angle (between Hoarwell and Loudwater) fled west and south, because of the wars, and the dread of Angmar, and because the land and clime of Eriador, especially in the east, worsened and became unfriendly.

The Angle wasn't too far northwest of Eregion. I wonder if the Witch-king was really behind it, or if that was just what people thought was the easiest explanation.