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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Real Estate Investment Trust Election (REIT)

OUR ELECTION TO BE TAXED AS A REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST (REIT)

Starting with our 2010 fiscal year, we elected to be taxed as a REIT. We expect to derive most of our REIT income from investments in timberlands, including the sale of standing timber through pay-as-cut sales contracts. REIT income can be distributed to shareholders without first paying corporate level tax, substantially eliminating the double taxation on income. A significant portion of our timberland segment earnings receives this favorable tax treatment. We are no longer subject to corporate taxes on built-in-gains (the excess of fair market value over tax basis at January 1, 2010) due to a change in tax law in the fourth quarter 2015, which statutorily shortened the built-in-gains tax period from 10 years to 5 years following the REIT conversion. We continue to be required to pay federal corporate income taxes on earnings of our Taxable REIT Subsidiary (TRS), which includes our manufacturing businesses and the portion of our Timberlands segment income included in the TRS.

Consolidated Financial Statements

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Our consolidated financial statements provide an overall view of our results and financial condition. They include our accounts and the accounts of entities that we control, including:


•	majority-owned domestic and foreign subsidiaries and


•	variable interest entities in which we are the primary beneficiary.

They do not include our intercompany transactions and accounts, which are eliminated, and noncontrolling interests are presented as a separate component of equity.

We account for investments in and advances to unconsolidated equity affiliates using the equity method. We record our share of equity in net earnings of equity affiliates within "Earnings (loss) from equity affiliates" in our Consolidated Statement of Operations in the period in which the earnings are recorded by our equity affiliates.

Throughout these Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, unless specified otherwise, references to “Weyerhaeuser,” "the company," “we” and “our” refer to the consolidated company.

Our Business Segments

OUR BUSINESS SEGMENTS

We are principally engaged in:


•	growing and harvesting timber; and


•	manufacturing, distributing and selling products made from trees.

Our business segments are organized based primarily on products and services.

Our Business Segments and Products



SEGMENT	PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Timberlands	Logs, timber, minerals, oil and gas and international wood products
Wood Products	Softwood lumber, engineered wood products, structural panels and building materials distribution
Cellulose Fibers	Pulp, liquid packaging board and an equity interest in a newsprint joint venture

We also transfer raw materials, semifinished materials and end products among our business segments. Because of this intracompany activity, accounting for our business segments involves:


•	pricing products transferred between our business segments at current market values and


•	allocating joint conversion and common facility costs according to usage by our business segment product lines.

Gains or charges not related to or allocated to an individual operating segment are held in Unallocated Items. This includes a portion of items such as: share-based compensation; pension and postretirement costs; foreign exchange transaction gains and losses associated with financing; and the elimination of intersegment profit in inventory and the LIFO reserve.

Foreign Currency Translation

FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION

Local currencies are the functional currencies for most of our operations outside the U.S. We translate foreign currencies into U.S. dollars in two ways:


•	assets and liabilities — at the exchange rates in effect as of our balance sheet date; and


•	revenues and expenses — at average monthly exchange rates throughout the year.

Estimates

ESTIMATES

We prepare our financial statements according to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP). This requires us to make estimates and assumptions during our reporting periods and at the date of our financial statements. The estimates and assumptions affect our:


•	reported amounts of assets, liabilities and equity;


•	disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities; and


•	reported amounts of revenues and expenses.

While we do our best in preparing these estimates, actual results can and do differ from those estimates and assumptions.

Fair Value Measurements

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

We use a fair value hierarchy in accounting for certain nonfinancial assets and liabilities including:


•	long-lived assets (asset groups) measured at fair value for an impairment assessment,


•	reporting units measured at fair value in the first step of a goodwill impairment test,


•	nonfinancial assets and nonfinancial liabilities measured at fair value in the second step of a goodwill impairment assessment,


•	assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business acquisition and


•	asset retirement obligations initially measured at fair value.

The fair value hierarchy is based on inputs to valuation techniques that are used to measure fair value that are either observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect assumptions market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability based on market data obtained from independent sources while unobservable inputs reflect a reporting entity’s pricing based upon its own market assumptions.

The fair value hierarchy consists of the following three levels:


•	Level 1 — Inputs are quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.


•	Level 2 — Inputs are:

– quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in an active market;

– quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; or

– inputs other than quoted prices that are observable and market-corroborated inputs, which are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data.


•	Level 3 — Inputs are derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or value drivers are unobservable.

Reclassifications

RECLASSIFICATIONS

We have reclassified certain balances and results from the prior years to be consistent with our 2015 reporting. This makes year-to-year comparisons easier. Our reclassifications had no effect on net earnings or Weyerhaeuser shareholders’ interest. Our reclassifications present the results of operations discontinued in 2014 separately on our Consolidated Statement of Operations and in the related footnotes. Note 3: Discontinued Operations provides more information about our discontinued operations.

New Accounting Pronouncements

NEW ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2014-09, a comprehensive new revenue recognition model that requires an entity to recognize revenue to depict the transfer of goods or services to customers at an amount that reflects the consideration it expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, which deferred the effective date of ASU 2014-09 for an additional year. We plan to adopt the standard on January 1, 2018 and may use either the retrospective or cumulative effect transition method. We are evaluating the impact that ASU 2014-09 will have on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. We have not yet selected a transition method nor determined the effect of the standard on our ongoing financial reporting.

In April 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-03, which amends the presentation of debt issuance costs on the consolidated balance sheet. Under the new guidance, debt issuance costs are presented as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the debt liability rather than as an asset. The new guidance is effective retrospectively for fiscal periods starting after December 15, 2015 and early adoption is permitted. We expect to adopt ASU 2015-03 on January 1, 2016 and have determined that its adoption will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures at that time.

In May 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-07, which clarifies the presentation within the fair value hierarchy of certain investments held within our pension plan. The new guidance is effective retrospectively for fiscal periods starting after December 15, 2015 and early adoption is permitted. We expect to adopt ASU 2015-07 on January 1, 2016. This new guidance eliminates the requirement to categorize certain pension investments in the fair value hierarchy. Upon adoption these investments will be presented separately from the fair value hierarchy and reconciled to total investments in our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In July 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-11, which simplifies the measurement of inventories valued under most methods, including our inventories valued under FIFO – the first-in, first-out – and moving average cost methods. Inventories valued under LIFO – the last-in, first-out method – are excluded. Under this new guidance, inventories valued under these methods would be valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with net realizable value defined as the estimated selling price less reasonable costs to sell the inventory. The new guidance is effective prospectively for fiscal periods starting after December 15, 2016 and early adoption is permitted. We expect to adopt ASU 2015-11 on January 1, 2017 and are evaluating the impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In September 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-16, which requires an acquirer in a business combination to recognize adjustments to provisional amounts that are identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. The update also requires the acquirer to record, in the same period's financial statements, the effect on earnings of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects that result from the change to provisional amounts, calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date, and to disclose the portion of the amount recorded in current period earnings by line item that would have been recorded in previous reporting periods if the adjustment to the provisional amounts had been recognized as of the acquisition date. The new guidance is effective prospectively for fiscal periods starting after December 15, 2015 and early adoption is permitted. We expect to adopt ASU 2015-16 on January 1, 2016 and have determined that its adoption will not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures at that time.

In November 2015, FASB issued ASU 2015-17, which simplifies the presentation of deferred income taxes by no longer requiring deferred tax assets and liabilities to be classified as current or noncurrent, instead requiring that all deferred tax assets and liabilities be classified as noncurrent. The new guidance is effective for annual periods starting after December 15, 2017 and early adoption is permitted. We elected to adopt ASU 2015-17 effective October 1, 2015 and have reclassified deferred tax assets and liabilities accordingly in our consolidated balance sheet and in related disclosures for all periods presented.

Property and Equipment

We maintain property accounts on an individual asset basis. Here is how we handle major items:


•	Improvements to and replacements of major units of property are capitalized.


•	Maintenance, repairs and minor replacements are expensed.


•	Depreciation is calculated using a straight-line method at rates based on estimated service lives.


•	Logging roads are generally amortized — as timber is harvested — at rates based on the volume of timber estimated to be removed.


•	Cost and accumulated depreciation of property sold or retired are removed from the accounts and the gain or loss is included in earnings.

Buildings and improvements for property and equipment have estimated lives that are generally at either the high end or low end of the range from 10 years to 40 years, depending on the type and performance of construction.

The maximum service lives for machinery and equipment varies among our operations:


•	Timberlands — 15 years;


•	Wood products manufacturing facilities — 20 years; and


•	Pulp mills — 25 years.

Timber and Timberlands

We carry timber and timberlands at cost less depletion charged to disposals. Depletion refers to the carrying value of timber that is harvested, lost as a result of casualty, or sold.

Key activities affecting how we account for timber and timberlands include:


•	reforestation,


•	depletion and


•	forest management in Canada.

Reforestation. Generally, we capitalize initial site preparation and planting costs as reforestation. We transfer reforestation to a merchantable timber classification when the timber is considered harvestable. That generally occurs after:


•	15 years in the South and


•	30 years in the West.

Generally, we expense costs after the first planting as they are incurred or over the period of expected benefit. These costs include:


•	fertilization,


•	vegetation and insect control,


•	pruning and precommercial thinning,


•	property taxes and


•	interest.

Accounting practices for these costs do not change when timber becomes merchantable and harvesting starts.

Depletion. To determine depletion rates, we divide the net carrying value of timber by the related volume of timber estimated to be available over the growth cycle. To determine the growth cycle volume of timber, we consider:


•	regulatory and environmental constraints,


•	our management strategies,


•	inventory data improvements,


•	growth rate revisions and recalibrations and


•	known dispositions and inoperable acres.

We include the cost of timber harvested in the carrying values of raw materials and product inventories. As these inventories are sold to third parties, we include them in the cost of products sold.

Forest management in Canada. We managed timberlands under long-term licenses in various Canadian provinces that are:


•	granted by the provincial governments;


•	granted for initial periods of 15 to 25 years; and


•	renewable provided we meet reforestation, operating and management guidelines.

Calculation of the fees we pay on the timber we harvest:


•	varies from province to province,


•	is tied to product market pricing and


•	depends upon the allocation of land management responsibilities in the license.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

We review long-lived assets — including certain identifiable intangibles — for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable. Impaired assets held for use are written down to fair value. Impaired assets held for sale are written down to fair value less cost to sell. We determine fair value based on:


•	appraisals,


•	market pricing of comparable assets,


•	discounted value of estimated cash flows from the asset and


•	replacement values of comparable assets.

Goodwill

Goodwill is the purchase price minus the fair value of net assets acquired when we buy another entity. We assess goodwill for impairment:


•	using a fair-value-based approach and


•	at least annually — at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

In 2015 the fair value of the reporting unit with goodwill substantially exceeded its carrying value.

Financial Instruments

We estimate the fair value of financial instruments where appropriate. The assumptions we use — including the discount rate and estimates of cash flows — can significantly affect our fair-value amounts. Our fair values are estimates and may not match the amounts we would realize upon sale or settlement of our financial positions.

To estimate the fair value of long-term debt, we used the following valuation approaches:


•	market approach — based on quoted market prices we received for the same types and issues of our debt; or


•	income approach — based on the discounted value of the future cash flows using market yields for the same type and comparable issues of debt.

The inputs to these valuations are based on market data obtained from independent sources or information derived principally from observable market data.

The difference between the fair value and the carrying value represents the theoretical net premium or discount we would pay or receive to retire all debt at the measurement date.

Cash and Cash Equivalents and Accounts Payable

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash equivalents are investments with original maturities of 90 days or less. We state cash equivalents at cost, which approximates market.

Accounts Payable

Our banking system replenishes our major bank accounts daily as checks we have issued are presented for payment. As a result, we have negative book cash balances due to outstanding checks that have not yet been paid by the bank. These negative balances are included in accounts payable on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. Changes in these negative cash balances are reported as financing activities in our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows. We had no negative book cash balances as of December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014.

Concentration of Risk

We disclose customers that represent a concentration of credit risk. As of December 31, 2015, no customer accounted for 10 percent or more of our net sales or accounts receivable balances.

Revenue Recognition

Operations generally recognize revenue upon shipment to customers. For certain export sales, revenue is recognized when title transfers at the foreign port.

For timberland sales, we recognize revenue when title and possession have been transferred to the buyer and all other criteria for sale and profit recognition have been satisfied.

Inventories

We state inventories at the lower of cost or market. Cost includes labor, materials and production overhead. LIFO — the last-in, first-out method — applies to major inventory products held at our U.S. domestic locations. We began to use the LIFO method for domestic products in the 1940s as required to conform with the tax method elected. Subsequent acquisitions of entities added new products under the FIFO — the first-in, first-out method — or moving average cost methods that have continued under those methods. The FIFO or moving average cost methods applies to the balance of our domestic raw material and product inventories as well as for all material and supply inventories and all foreign inventories.

Shipping and Handling Costs

We classify shipping and handling costs in the costs of products sold in our Consolidated Statement of Operations.

Income Taxes

We account for income taxes under the asset and liability method. Unrecognized tax benefits represent potential future funding obligations to taxing authorities if uncertain tax positions the company has taken on previously filed tax returns are not sustained. In accordance with the company’s accounting policy, accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits are recognized as a component of income tax expense.

We recognize deferred tax assets and liabilities to reflect:


•	future tax consequences due to differences between the carrying amounts for financial purposes and the tax bases of certain items and


•	operating loss and tax credit carryforwards.

To measure deferred tax assets and liabilities, we:


•	determine when the differences between the carrying amounts and tax bases of affected items are expected to be recovered or resolved and


•	use enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in those years.

Share-Based Compensation

We generally measure the fair value of share-based awards on the dates they are granted or modified. These measurements establish the cost of the share-based awards for accounting purposes. We then recognize the cost of share-based awards in our Consolidated Statement of Operations over each employee’s required service period. Note 17: Share-Based Compensation provides more information about our share-based compensation.

HOW WE ACCOUNT FOR SHARE-BASED AWARDS

We:


•	use a fair-value-based measurement for share-based awards, and


•	recognize the cost of share-based awards in our consolidated financial statements.

We recognize the cost of share-based awards in our Consolidated Statement of Operations over the required service period — generally the period from the date of the grant to the date when it is vested. Special situations include:


•	Awards that vest upon retirement — the required service period ends on the date an employee is eligible for retirement, including early retirement.


•	Awards that continue to vest following job elimination or the sale of a business — the required service period ends on the date the employment from the company is terminated.

In these special situations, compensation expense from share-based awards is recognized over a period that is shorter than the stated vesting period.

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans

We recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of our defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans on our Consolidated Balance Sheet and recognize changes in the funded status through comprehensive income (loss) in the year in which the changes occur.

Actuarial valuations determine the amount of the pension and other postretirement benefit obligations and the net periodic benefit cost we recognize. The net periodic benefit cost includes:


•	cost of benefits provided in exchange for employees’ services rendered during the year;


•	interest cost of the obligations;


•	expected long-term return on fund assets;


•	gains or losses on plan settlements and curtailments;


•	amortization of prior service costs and plan amendments over the average remaining service period of the active employee group covered by the plans or the average remaining life expectancy in situations where the plan participants affected by the plan amendment are inactive; and

•

amortization of cumulative unrecognized net actuarial gains and losses — generally in excess of 10 percent of the greater of the benefit obligation or market-related value of plan assets at the beginning of the year — over the average remaining service period of the active employee group covered by the plans or the average remaining life expectancy in situations where the plan participants are inactive.

Pension plans. We have pension plans covering most of our employees. Determination of benefits differs for salaried, hourly and union employees:


•	Salaried employee benefits are based on each employee’s highest monthly earnings for five consecutive years during the final 10 years before retirement.


•	Hourly and union employee benefits generally are stated amounts for each year of service.


•	Union employee benefits are set through collective-bargaining agreements.

We contribute to our U.S. and Canadian pension plans according to established funding standards. The funding standards for the plans are:


•	U.S. pension plans — according to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; and


•	Canadian pension plans — according to the applicable provincial pension act and the Income Tax Act.

Postretirement benefits other than pensions. We provide certain postretirement health care and life insurance benefits for some retired employees. In some cases, we pay a portion of the cost of the benefit. Note 9: Pension and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans provides additional information about changes made in our postretirement benefit plans during 2015 and 2014.

Environmental Remediation

We accrue losses associated with environmental remediation obligations when such losses are probable and reasonably estimable. Future expenditures for environmental remediation obligations are not discounted to their present value. Recoveries of environmental remediation costs from other parties are recorded as assets when the recovery is deemed probable and does not exceed the amount of losses previously recorded.

Estimates. We believe it is reasonably possible, based on currently available information and analysis, that remediation costs for all identified sites may exceed our existing reserves by up to $116 million.

This estimate, in which those additional costs may be incurred over several years, is the upper end of the range of reasonably possible additional costs. The estimate:


•	is much less certain than the estimates on which our accruals currently are based, and


•	uses assumptions that are less favorable to us among the range of reasonably possible outcomes.

In estimating our current accruals and the possible range of additional future costs, we:


•	assumed we will not bear the entire cost of remediation of every site,


•	took into account the ability of other potentially responsible parties to participate, and


•	considered each party’s financial condition and probable contribution on a per-site basis.

Earnings Per Share, Policy

"Basic earnings" per share is net earnings available to common shareholders divided by the weighted average number of our outstanding common shares, including stock equivalent units where there is no circumstance under which those shares would not be issued.

"Diluted earnings" per share is net earnings available to common shareholders divided by the sum of the:


•	weighted average number of our outstanding common shares and


•	the effect of our outstanding dilutive potential common shares.

Dilutive potential common shares may include:


•	outstanding stock options,


•	restricted stock units,


•	performance share units and


•	preference shares.

We use the treasury stock method to calculate the effect of our outstanding stock options, restricted stock units and performance share units. Share-based payment awards that are contingently issuable upon the achievement of specified performance or market conditions are included in our diluted earnings per share calculation in the period in which the conditions are satisfied.

We use the if-converted method to calculate the effect of our outstanding preference shares. In applying the if-converted method, conversion is not assumed for purposes of computing diluted earnings per share if the effect would be antidilutive. Preference shares are antidilutive whenever the amount of the dividend declared in or accumulated for the current period per common share obtainable on conversion exceeds diluted earnings per share exclusive of the preference shares.

Preference shares are evaluated for participation on a quarterly basis to determine whether two-class presentation is required. Preference shares are considered to be participating as of the financial reporting period end to the extent they would participate in dividends paid to common shareholders. Preference shares are not considered participating for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014. Under the provisions of the two-class method, basic and diluted earnings per share would be presented for both preference and common shareholders.

Pension and Other Postretirement Plans, Pensions, Policy

Valuation of Our Plan Assets

The pension assets are stated at fair value based upon the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the reporting date. We do not value pension investments based upon a forced or distressed sale scenario. Instead, we consider both observable and unobservable inputs that reflect assumptions applied by market participants when setting the exit price of an asset or liability in an orderly transaction within the principal market of that asset or liability.

We value the pension plan assets based upon the observability of exit pricing inputs and classify pension plan assets based upon the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the pension plan assets in their entirety. The fair value hierarchy we follow is outlined below;

Level 1: Inputs are unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets and liabilities traded in an active market.

Level 2: Inputs are quoted prices in non-active markets for which pricing inputs are observable either directly or indirectly at the reporting date.

Level 3: Inputs are derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or value drivers are unobservable.

The pension assets are comprised of cash and short-term investments, derivative contracts, common and preferred stock and fund units. The fund units are typically limited liability interests in hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds and cash funds. Each of these assets participates in its own unique principal market.

Cash and short-term investments, when held directly, are valued at cost.

Common and preferred stocks are valued at exit prices quoted in the public markets.

Derivative contracts held by our pension trusts are not publicly traded and each derivative contract is specifically negotiated with a unique financial counterparty and references either illiquid fund units or a unique number of synthetic units of a publicly reported market index. The derivative contracts are valued based upon valuation statements received from the financial counterparties.

Fund units are valued based upon the net asset values of the funds which we believe represent the per-unit prices at which new investors are permitted to invest and the prices at which existing investors are permitted to exit. To the degree net asset values as of the end of the year have not been received, we use the most recently reported net asset values and adjust for market events and cash flows that have occurred between the interim date and the end of the year to estimate the fair values as of the end of the year.

Assets that do not have readily available quoted prices in an active market require a higher degree of judgment to value and have a higher degree of risk that the value that could have been realized upon sale as of the valuation date could be different from the reported value than assets with observable pricing inputs. It is possible that the full extent of market price, liquidity, currency, interest rate, or credit risks may not be fully factored into the fair values of our pension plan assets that use significant unobservable inputs. Approximately $4.7 billion, or 86.0 percent, of our pension plan assets were classified as Level 3 assets as of December 31, 2015.

We estimate the fair value of pension plan assets based upon the information available during the year-end reporting process. In some cases, primarily private equity funds, the information available consists of net asset values as of an interim date, cash flows between the interim date and the end of the year, and market events. When the difference is significant, we revise the year-end estimated fair value of pension plan assets to incorporate year-end net asset values received after we have filed our annual report on Form 10-K.