Increased emphasis on ecosystem management and accountability by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and other federal land management agencies has led to the development of a series of strategic plans such as the Clean Water Action Plan and internal USDA Forest Service strategies such as the National Resources Agenda and the USDA Forest Service strategic plans (as required by the Government Performance and Results Act). The goals and objectives within these strategies have placed a significant challenge on managers seeking to implement these strategies because the agency is decentralized with each administrative national forest or grassland unit having a different level of staffing, budgets, skills, available resources, interests and priorities. Benchmarking in a decentralized agency like the USDA Forest Service could greatly benefit the agency by identifying programs and best practices that have been successful in this changing environment that is focusing on ecosystem management, accountability and integration of specialized programs.