Consolidating Financial Statements (Statement of Cash Flows Details) (USD $) In Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES	$ 326,270	$ 473,207
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capital Expenditures	(87,156)	(95,614)
Purchase of timberlands	(94,162)	0
Jesup mill cellulose specialties expansion	(14,567)	0
Intercompany purchase of timberlands and real estate		0
Change in restricted cash	8,323	(13,209)
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Other	7,021	6,211
CASH USED FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES	(180,541)	(102,612)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Issuance of debt	180,000	157,000
Repayment of debt	(180,000)	(96,650)
Dividends paid	(136,563)	(120,156)
Proceeds from the issuance of common shares	8,248	21,532
Excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation	4,951	5,071
Debt issuance costs	(2,027)	(537)
Repurchase of common shares	(7,909)	(6,028)
Intercompany distributions	0	0
CASH (USED FOR) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	(133,300)	(39,768)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH	393	(126)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Change in cash and cash equivalents	12,822	330,701
Balance, beginning of year	349,463	74,964
Balance, end of period	362,285	405,665
Parent Company [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES	136,224	104,652
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capital Expenditures	0	0
Purchase of timberlands	0
Intercompany purchase of timberlands and real estate		0
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Other	0	0
CASH USED FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES	0	0
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Issuance of debt	0	0
Repayment of debt	0	0
Dividends paid	(136,563)	(120,156)
Proceeds from the issuance of common shares	8,248	21,532
Excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation	0	0
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Repurchase of common shares	(7,909)	(6,028)
Intercompany distributions	0	0
CASH (USED FOR) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	(136,224)	(104,652)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Change in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Balance, beginning of year	0	0
Balance, end of period	0	0
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES	147,352	146,909
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capital Expenditures	(16)	(818)
Purchase of timberlands	0
Intercompany purchase of timberlands and real estate		0
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	(73,736)	0
Other	0	0
CASH USED FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES	(73,752)	(818)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Issuance of debt	75,000	0
Repayment of debt	0	(5,000)
Dividends paid	0	0
Proceeds from the issuance of common shares	0	0
Excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation	0	0
Debt issuance costs	(675)	0
Repurchase of common shares	0	0
Intercompany distributions	(135,309)	(104,652)
CASH (USED FOR) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	(60,984)	(109,652)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Change in cash and cash equivalents	12,616	36,439
Balance, beginning of year	29,759	2,895
Balance, end of period	42,375	39,334
Issuer Entity [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES	15,000	25,000
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capital Expenditures	0	0
Purchase of timberlands	0
Intercompany purchase of timberlands and real estate		0
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	68,613	164,281
Other	0	0
CASH USED FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES	68,613	164,281
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Issuance of debt	0	75,000
Repayment of debt	(75,000)	(4,650)
Dividends paid	0	0
Proceeds from the issuance of common shares	0	0
Excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation	0	0
Debt issuance costs	(676)	(537)
Repurchase of common shares	0	0
Intercompany distributions	(14,760)	(25,000)
CASH (USED FOR) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	(90,436)	44,813
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Change in cash and cash equivalents	(6,823)	234,094
Balance, beginning of year	283,258	67,494
Balance, end of period	276,435	301,588
Non-guarantor Subsidiary Rayonier TRS Holdings Inc [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES	165,221	296,986
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capital Expenditures	(60,950)	(73,617)
Purchase of timberlands	(5,638)
Jesup mill cellulose specialties expansion	(14,567)
Intercompany purchase of timberlands and real estate		(41,253)
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Other	7,092	6,590
CASH USED FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES	(74,063)	(108,280)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Issuance of debt	0	0
Repayment of debt	0	0
Dividends paid	0	0
Proceeds from the issuance of common shares	0	0
Excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation	4,951	5,071
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Repurchase of common shares	0	0
Intercompany distributions	(87,508)	(193,178)
CASH (USED FOR) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	(82,557)	(188,107)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH	393	(126)
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Change in cash and cash equivalents	8,994	473
Balance, beginning of year	1,280	2,228
Balance, end of period	10,274	2,701
Non-guarantor Subsidiary All Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES	136,241	196,190
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capital Expenditures	(26,190)	(21,179)
Purchase of timberlands	(88,524)
Intercompany purchase of timberlands and real estate		(48,487)
Change in restricted cash	8,323	(13,209)
Investment in subsidiaries	0	0
Other	(71)	(379)
CASH USED FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES	(106,462)	(83,254)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Issuance of debt	105,000	82,000
Repayment of debt	(105,000)	(87,000)
Dividends paid	0	0
Proceeds from the issuance of common shares	0	0
Excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation	0	0
Debt issuance costs	(676)	0
Repurchase of common shares	0	0
Intercompany distributions	(31,068)	(48,241)
CASH (USED FOR) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	(31,744)	(53,241)
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Change in cash and cash equivalents	(1,965)	59,695
Balance, beginning of year	35,166	2,347
Balance, end of period	33,201	62,042
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Statement of Cash Flows [Abstract]
CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES	(273,768)	(296,530)
INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capital Expenditures	0	0
Purchase of timberlands	0
Intercompany purchase of timberlands and real estate		89,740
Change in restricted cash	0	0
Investment in subsidiaries	5,123	(164,281)
Other	0	0
CASH USED FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES	5,123	(74,541)
FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Issuance of debt	0	0
Repayment of debt	0	0
Dividends paid	0	0
Proceeds from the issuance of common shares	0	0
Excess tax benefits on stock-based compensation	0	0
Debt issuance costs	0	0
Repurchase of common shares	0	0
Intercompany distributions	268,645	371,071
CASH (USED FOR) PROVIDED BY FINANCING ACTIVITIES	268,645	371,071
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE CHANGES ON CASH	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Change in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Balance, beginning of year	0	0
Balance, end of period	$ 0	$ 0