VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES - Additional Information (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Interest expense	$ 384	$ 452	$ 462
Deferred tax liability	(228)	(13)
Forest Products
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Sales proceeds invested in restricted bank financial instruments	916	915
Long-term debt	776	772
Forest Products | Special Purpose Entities
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Interest expense	31	32	33
Interest income	34	34	36
Number of qualifying special purpose entities	5
Equity in the five SPEs	140
Deferred tax liability	277
Forest Products | Buyer-sponsored SPEs
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Sales proceeds invested in restricted bank financial instruments	909
Weighted Average Interest Rate	3.81%	3.81%
Forest Products | Buyer-sponsored SPEs | Restricted bank financial instruments due in 2012
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Sales proceeds invested in restricted bank financial instruments	110
Investment, maturity date	Dec. 31, 2012
Forest Products | Buyer-sponsored SPEs | Restricted bank financial instruments due in 2013
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Sales proceeds invested in restricted bank financial instruments	184
Investment, maturity date	Dec. 31, 2013
Forest Products | Buyer-sponsored SPEs | Restricted bank financial instruments due in 2019
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Sales proceeds invested in restricted bank financial instruments	253
Investment, maturity date	Dec. 31, 2019
Forest Products | Buyer-sponsored SPEs | Restricted bank financial instruments due in 2020
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Sales proceeds invested in restricted bank financial instruments	362
Investment, maturity date	Dec. 31, 2020
Forest Products | Monetization SPEs
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Long-term debt	767	764
Weighted average interest rate	4.15%	4.15%
Forest Products | Monetization SPEs | Long-term debt due in 2012
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Long-term debt	96
Debt, maturity date	Dec. 31, 2012
Forest Products | Monetization SPEs | Long-term debt due in 2013
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Long-term debt	160
Debt, maturity date	Dec. 31, 2013
Forest Products | Monetization SPEs | Long-term debt due in 2019
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Long-term debt	209
Debt, maturity date	Dec. 31, 2019
Forest Products | Monetization SPEs | Long-term debt due in 2020
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 302
Debt, maturity date	Dec. 31, 2020