The Midland Ranch

Water, Wildlife, and a Working Wyoming Legacy

From the timbered country below the Wind River Mountains to the open reaches of the Red Desert, Midland Ranch follows the defining elements of western Wyoming: water, grass, and the seasonal movement of animals across a vast landscape.

The offering combines approximately 5,880 deeded acres with associated state leases, federal grazing allotments, and trailing allotments across an operating footprint exceeding one million acres. Five distinct ranch units bring together irrigated meadows, private river frontage, mountain pasture, sagebrush range, and winter grazing country. Much of the deeded land has remained in the same family for more than 120 years, including original patented homesteads that have never previously traded.

Water is central to the ranch’s agricultural strength and its conservation significance. The Big Sandy and Little Sandy Rivers, Grass Creek, perennial desert streams, natural springs, reservoirs, and developed stock water sustain a working livestock enterprise while supporting fisheries, migratory wildlife, and resident game. Historic water rights, including priorities dating to the early 1900s, are among the offering’s defining assets.

The accompanying wildlife maps place Midland within a broader network of mule deer and Sublette pronghorn migration corridors and sage grouse core areas. These connections give the ranch a significance that extends beyond its individual boundaries. Its river bottoms, wet meadows, and open rangelands form part of the country through which wildlife feeds, winters, and moves with the seasons.

Available in its entirety or as individual units, Midland offers the opportunity to carry forward an established ranching operation while helping shape the future of a substantial Wyoming landscape.

Water at the Ranch

Across Midland, the presence of water is visible in the land itself: green meadows beneath the mountains, willow-lined streams winding through sagebrush, broad river bends, and wetland pockets set against the dry expanse of the high desert.

The ranch’s water resources serve several complementary purposes. Irrigation supports hay production and pasture. Springs, wells, and reservoirs distribute livestock water across extensive grazing country. Rivers and their adjoining vegetation provide fisheries, wildlife cover, and habitat for waterfowl and other birds. Together, these resources underpin both the ranch’s productive use and its appeal to an owner interested in conservation and recreation.

At Grass Creek, water rights with priority dates of 1903, 1904, and 1905 accompany control of the diversion and ditch at the highest diversion point on the Little Sandy River. Approximately five miles of Grass Creek flow through the deeded land, augmented by diverted river water and supported by eight natural springs.

Prospect Mountain adds extensive frontage along the Big Sandy and Little Sandy Rivers, irrigated hay fields and pasture, and surface water rights with priorities dating to 1905, 1908, and 1911. Reservoir storage, artesian and pump wells, and springs across the associated grazing lands broaden the unit’s water resources.

Farther south, the Reservoir & Sublette Flat unit combines river frontage and an extensive Big Sandy Reservoir shoreline setting with developed wells, springs, and storage. Vermillion Creek brings perennial stream access and a network of reservoirs to the ranch’s desert winter range.

This distribution of water across different elevations and seasons is fundamental to Midland’s character. It supports the livestock operation and helps sustain the variety of habitats that make the ranch consequential as a conservation holding.

Conservation Across Working Landscape

Midland’s conservation value begins with the relationship between its parts. Mountain pasture, irrigated meadow, river bottom, sagebrush range, and desert winter country each serve a different purpose. Their continued connection matters to both the agricultural operation and the wildlife that uses the surrounding landscape.

The regional wildlife maps illustrate the relationship of the northern ranch units to mapped mule deer migration corridors and the Sublette pronghorn corridor. Sage grouse core areas overlap portions of the wider operating footprint, including country associated with the southern holdings. Viewed together, the maps show how Midland fits into a much larger system of seasonal ranges and wildlife movement across western Wyoming.

Within that setting, the deeded river corridors and irrigated lands have particular importance. Water, forage, and cover are concentrated along these comparatively narrow ribbons of habitat. Keeping them intact can help maintain the ecological connections between surrounding uplands and public grazing lands.

The ranch supports mule deer, pronghorn, elk, and a diverse assemblage of other wildlife. Moose, black bear, beaver, raptors, waterfowl, and sage grouse add to that diversity. The owners report substantial seasonal movements of pronghorn and mule deer, alongside resident elk herds. Wildlife is a recurring presence throughout the working year.

For a conservation-minded buyer, Midland offers a substantial foundation for stewardship: protecting river corridors, maintaining open range, managing grazing and streamside vegetation, and improving the compatibility of ranch infrastructure with wildlife movement. A new owner could also explore voluntary conservation arrangements on suitable deeded lands, shaped around the property’s agricultural use and the owner’s objectives.

The opportunity is to sustain a working ranch whose water resources, habitat, and open country contribute to the surrounding region.

A Ranch Built Around the Seasons

For generations, Midland’s owners have practiced transhumance, moving livestock with the seasons between desert winter range and higher spring and summer country. Historic livestock movements extend more than 100 miles, reflecting the breadth of the ranch’s grazing resources and the complementary roles of its five units.

That seasonal structure remains central to the offering. Irrigated fields, mountain grazing, lower-elevation pasture, and winter sheep range support an operation developed around the capabilities of the land. Headquarters facilities, corrals, barns, fencing, and water improvements provide the working infrastructure behind this extensive land base.

The deeded properties anchor an operation that also depends on associated public-land grazing and trailing authorizations. Together, these holdings offer the scale to combine livestock production, recreation, and sustained habitat management across a varied landscape.

The Next Chapter

Midland Ranch brings together the elements that give a western ranch lasting substance: productive land, historic water rights, working infrastructure, wildlife, and continuity of ownership.

Its five units offer distinct opportunities, from private fisheries and mountain pasture to extensive grazing country and desert winter range. Acquired together, they provide the foundation for a seasonal livestock operation and a broader approach to conservation across connected working lands.

For the next owner, the opportunity is tangible: keep the rivers and meadows productive, maintain room for wildlife to move, and carry a Wyoming ranching legacy into its next generation.

Buyers have the opportunity to buy the ranch as a whole, or acquire individual units.