Land Stewardship Project

Land Stewardship Project
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Long Range Plan
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
      • LSP Board Committees
    • LSP Steering Committees & Working Groups
    • Contact Us
    • Past LSP Projects
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • LSP Publications
    • Financial Statements
  • The Latest
    • Community Care
    • Songs for the Soil
    • CSA Farm Directory
    • Upcoming Events
    • News
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • LSP in the News
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Land Stewardship Letter
    • LIVE-WIRE Sign-up
    • Myth Busters
    • Fact Sheets
    • Farm Crisis Resources
  • For Farmers & Landowners
    • Farmland Clearinghouse
    • New Farmers
      • Farm Beginnings Class
      • Journeyperson Course
      • Farm Dreams
      • Accessing Farmland
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Beginning Farmer Profiles
      • Fresh Voices Podcast Series
    • Retiring Farmers & Landowners
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Farm Transition Course 2026
      • Conservation Leases
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Land Transition Tools
      • Transition Stories
    • Soil Health
      • Cover Crops
      • Grazing
      • No-till
      • Microbiology
      • Kernza
      • Soil Builders’ Network
      • Soil Builders’ E-Letters
      • Soil Health Steering Committee Members
      • Ear Dirt Soil Health Podcast Series
    • Cropping Systems Calculator
    • Conservation Leases
  • Creating Change
    • Community-Based Food Systems
      • Ear Bites Community-Based Food Podcast Series
    • Policy Campaigns
      • Soil Health & Climate Change
      • Healthcare
      • Factory Farms
        • Anti-Competitiveness & Price Gouging
        • LSP Powerline Story Center
      • Federal Policy
        • A Farm Bill For Us
      • State Policy
        • MN Farm, Food & Climate Funding
      • Developing Leadership
    • Justice & Stewardship
    • Organizational Stewardship
  • Get Involved
    • Your Membership Matters
    • Take Action!
    • Upcoming Events
    • Land Stewardship Action Fund
    • Connect with LSP
      • Stay Connected
      • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
      • Shop
      • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
      • Legacy Giving
    • Network with LSP Members
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Soil Health
    • Farmland Clearinghouse
  • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
  • Stay Connected
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
Search
More...

Land Stewardship Project Names New Executive Director

Scott Elkins Brings Decades of Organizing & Leadership Experience to the Organization in its 41st Year of Working to ‘Keep the Land & People Together’

June 22, 2023

Share

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • email
Scott Elkins

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A grassroots organizer with decades of experience empowering local communities around environmental and sustainability issues has been named the Land Stewardship Project’s new executive director, the organization’s board of directors announced today. Scott Elkins, who took the helm at the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) this week, is also leading the organization’s 501(c)4 advocacy action arm, the Land Stewardship Action Fund (LSAF).

The child and grandchild of Texas cattle ranchers, Elkins brings to this position three decades of experience working at the grassroots level. His new role represents a return to the organization — Elkins worked as an LSP organizer in the late 1990s, during which he focused on helping communities protect farmland in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. For the past two decades, he has worked for the Sierra Club at the state and national level. Most recently, he served as the organization’s national director of volunteer and leader engagement. Previously, he served as the Sierra Club’s director of grassroots effectiveness and, before that, as the director of the Minnesota chapter.

“We are excited to have Scott on board at LSP; he brings years of experience organizing people around making their communities better places to live and work,” said Beth Slocum, who chairs LSP’s board of directors and farms near Welch in southeastern Minnesota. “His personal and professional background shows he deeply believes in our mission to promote stewardship of the land and the health of rural communities through regenerative, family farm-based agriculture. Scott is truly committed to the values and vision of our member-led organization, and we are eager to work with him to grow LSP’s powerful, positive impact in our rural communities and across the agricultural landscape.”

Elkins said he is passionate about working with local people who are dedicated to creating sustainable, resilient communities. Too often when it comes to discussions about economic sustainability and environmental health, farming communities are written off as “sacrifice zones,” he said.

“LSP has always been a leader in lifting up the voices and stories of people in communities that are often neglected and silenced,” he said. “I am excited to help lead the Land Stewardship Project’s talented staff as we focus on building and supporting that critical area where farming, food, communities and ecological health intersect.”

Elkins begins his leadership of LSP at a time when the 41-year-old organization is expanding its work in the areas of soil health, beginning farmer training, farm business transition, policy and community food systems. LSP’s work in these areas had a significant impact during the recently adjourned session of the Minnesota Legislature. The organization’s members had unprecedented success advancing a set of policy proposals that support regenerative agriculture, soil health, community food systems, emerging farmers, rural communities, healthcare reform and landscape sustainability.

“I think LSP’s recent success advancing policies that are fueled by its work shows that the constituency we represent carries a lot of value and integrity with policy makers,” said Elkins. “It goes to show that the Land Stewardship Project’s efforts to empower farmers, rural residents and anyone else who cares about the future of the land is needed now more than ever.”

Elkins takes the reins from Amy Brugh, who has served as LSP’s interim executive director since January, when Mike McMahon stepped down as the organization’s leader. McMahon is now on staff with Addition, a national group that is working to spark grassroots efforts in areas underserved by organizing. During the past six months, Brugh did extensive work bolstering LSP’s internal infrastructure and working with the staff and board to usher in permanent leadership.

“Amy has done a phenomenal job providing the kind of stability our staff requires to do the critical work that needs done while setting LSP up well for permanent leadership,” said Slocum. “We greatly appreciate the good counsel and depth of experience she contributed to this transition period.”

The Land Stewardship Project (landstewardshipproject.org) is a private, nonprofit, membership-based organization founded in 1982 to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote sustainable agriculture and to develop healthy communities. It works throughout the Upper Midwest and has offices in the Minnesota communities of Lewiston, Montevideo and south Minneapolis.

-30-

Category: News Releases
Tags: Land Stewardship Project • LSP leadership • Scott Elkins

Contact

Brian DeVore, LSP, e-mail, 612-816-9342

Photo Available

To obtain a photo of Scott Elkins, contact DeVore via e-mail.

Upcoming Events

×

September 2025

Tuesday September 16

9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Chicken Processing Workshop
Tuesday September 16
9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Chicken Processing Workshop
14882 255th Ave, Sleepy Eye, MN 56085, USA

Join the SFA to learn how to process your own chickens at home. At this workshop, participants will actually be processing 35-40 chickens from start to finish, and they will learn how to kill, scald, pluck, and eviscerate the chickens. Each attendee will have the opportunity to perform the complete process with instructor help on several birds. 

Details are here. 

Wednesday September 17

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Grazing for Invasive Species Management in Oak Savannas
Wednesday September 17
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Grazing for Invasive Species Management in Oak Savannas
Myre-Big Island State Park, 19499 780th Ave, Albert Lea, MN 56007, USA

For details on this workshop, click here.

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Extending the Grazing Season with Cover Crops & Native Grasses
Wednesday September 17
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Extending the Grazing Season with Cover Crops & Native Grasses
Bluffton Resort & Bar, 2619 W Ravine Rd, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

This Ducks Unlimited workshop will feature a discussion of how livestock producers can utilize cover crops and native grasses to extend the grazing season. Featured speakers include Adam Janke, who will discuss Iowa State University’s research on CRP grazing, and Brian Dougherty of Understanding AG, who will discuss the economics of grazing cover crops. There will also be a presentation on Ducks Unlimited’s Advancing Markets for Producers Partnership. 
 
For details, see this flier. or call Ducks Unlimited’s Liam Bonk at 612-483-3577. To register, click here.

Thursday September 18

5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Minnesota Women in Conservation: Conservation Land Walk in Dawson
Thursday September 18
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Minnesota Women in Conservation: Conservation Land Walk in Dawson
Dawson, MN

During this Minnesota Women in Conservation event, participants will walk around a “homestead” farm site — exploring areas and goals the landowner hopes to improve in the future, including pollinator habitat, perennial plantings, wind breaks, privacy/noise screens, water quality improvements, well sealing, and compost placements. Participants will hear feedback and recommendations from a conservation professional on potential programs that could assist the landowner in achieving those goals. 
 
This is a FREE event, but you must RSVP here to get the address. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Saturday September 20

All Day
Farm Aid
Saturday September 20
Farm Aid
Huntington Bank Stadium, 420 23rd Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

 Farm Aid is heading to Minnesota for the first time for its 40th anniversary festival on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The event will launch a year-long celebration of four decades of impactful advocacy, historic cultural moments and unforgettable music.

Farm Aid 40 — a full day of music, family farmers, HOMEGROWN food and agricultural experiences — will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young (and the Chrome Hearts), John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), and Margo Price, as well as Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Trampled by Turtles, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles, Madeline Edwards and more artists to be announced.

For details, click here.

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  • Land Line: MAHA, Bumper Corn Crop, Oats, Defining Regenerative Ag, Feeding the World, CAFO Hotspots August 28, 2025
  • Farmers to AG: Take Action to Counteract Community-Killing Consolidation August 27, 2025
  • Tell the MPCA by Sept. 10 to Focus on Clean Water, New Crops & Living Cover August 22, 2025
  • Land Line: Farm Finance Crisis, Mental Health, Inflated Inputs, Crop-Livestock Synergy, Bread Bloat, Pesticides in Water, Soil Health & MAHA August 9, 2025
  • Farmers Gather in Madison to Discuss ‘Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota’ August 6, 2025

Montevideo

111 North First Street
Montevideo, MN 56265

(320) 269-2105

Lewiston

180 E. Main Street
Lewiston, MN 55952

(507) 523-3366

Minneapolis

821 E. 35th Street #200
Minneapolis, MN 55407

(612) 722-6377

  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Land Stewardship Project. All rights reserved.

https://landstewardshipproject.org/land-stewardship-project-chooses-new-executive-director