Montz Ranch Complex

Montz Ranch & Montz Point Wildlife Management Area (Montz Point WMA) 

The Montz Ranch Complex is located 14 miles southwest of Morrill, Nebraska and 3 miles east of the Wyoming-Nebraska border. The ranch is accessed off the hard-surfaced Stegel Road. The Montz property was purchased in 2007 with the partnership of Platte River Basin Environments, Inc. (PRBE), Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, The Nature Conservancy, and the Nebraska Environmental Trust.

The ranch consists of 4,800 acres and was homesteaded in the late 1800’s as a working cattle ranch. Part of Montz Ranch’s history was noted as a “halfway” house for travelers located half-way between the communities of LaGrange, Wyoming and Scottsbluff, Nebraska. The telephone service also ended at the ranch headquarters, and many people would have the ranch family relay messages to neighbors, family and friends.

The topography of the ranch varies from rolling sand sage prairie hills to steep sandstone escarpments. There are natural springs that originate in two woody canyons coming off the west slope of the escarpments. These springs supply a dependable source of water for a variety of wildlife and livestock and previously for ancient humans. The ranch has a rich cultural and archaeological importance for its fossil and artifact discoveries.

The Montz Ranch Complex is home to elk, mule and whitetail deer, wild turkey, bobcat, coyote and a small band of resident bighorn sheep. There are also several other game and non-game species that are found on the ranch. It is a unique ecosystem.

This property will be managed for biodiversity conservation and is part of the identified core for the Wildcat Hills Wildlands Initiative.