Debt Joint Venture Debt (Details) (USD $)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Apr. 04, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Effective Date of Acquisition	Apr. 04, 2013
Additional ownership interest acquired		39.00%
Post-acquisition ownership percentage		65.00%
Less: Current maturities of long-term debt	$ (75,463,000)		$ (150,000,000)
Long-term Debt	1,591,834,000		1,120,052,000
Matariki Forestry Group [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	211,407,000
Less: Current maturities of long-term debt	(463,000)
Long-term Debt	210,944,000
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Senior Secured Facilities Agreement [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	199,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Description	comprised of two tranches of revolving credit facilities and a working capital facility
Debt Instrument, Currency	New Zealand dollars
Debt Instrument, Covenant Description	generation of sufficient cash flows to meet a minimum interest coverage ratio of 1.50 to 1 on a quarterly basis and maintenance of a leverage ratio of bank debt versus the forest and land valuation below the covenant's maximum ratio of 35 percent.
Debt Instrument, Covenant Compliance	At June 30, 2013, the New Zealand JV was in compliance with all its covenants.
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Senior Secured Facilities Agreement, Tranche A Revolving Facility due 2014 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	123,488,000
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate During Period	3.61%
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date, Description	September 2014
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis	90 day New Zealand bank bill rate
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Senior Secured Facilities Agreement, Tranche B Revolving Facility due 2016 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	57,885,000
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate During Period	3.76%
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date, Description	September 2016
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis	90 day New Zealand bank bill rate
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Senior Secured Facilities Agreement, Revolving Facilities due 2014 to 2016 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	0.775%
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Senior Secured Facilities Agreement, Revolving Facilities due 2014 to 2016 [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	1.05%
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Senior Secured Facilities Agreement, Working Capital Facility due 2013 [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	463,000
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity	18,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate During Period	3.94%
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date, Description	September 2013
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis	Official Cash Rate set by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Senior Secured Facilities Agreement, Working Capital Facility due 2013 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	1.17%
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Senior Secured Facilities Agreement, Working Capital Facility due 2013 [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate	1.44%
Matariki Forestry Group [Member] | Noncontrolling interest shareholder loan at 0% interest rate [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	$ 29,571,000
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate During Period	0.00%
Long-term Debt, Description	This loan represents part of the noncontrolling party’s investment in the JV. The loan is secured by timberlands owned by the JV and is subordinated to the Senior Secured Facilities Agreement. Although Rayonier Inc. is not liable for this loan, the shareholder loan instrument contains features with characteristics of both debt and equity and is therefore required to be classified as debt and consolidated.