In 1939, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission acquired 1,335 acres of land south of Beulah, WY in an area known as Sand Creek, with assistance from the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. The primary purpose of the acquisition was, and still is, to provide a public fishing and hunting area. From 1942 through 1978, a series of land sales were performed to consolidate the area to those lands directly surrounding Sand Creek; the result was 1.75 miles of stream with 284 acres of creek bottomlands for public fishing and hunting.

In 1989, the Ox Yoke Ranch entered into a lease agreement with the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to allow unlimited public fishing access on an additional three miles of Sand Creek below the Sand Creek WHMA on their ranch in exchange for cattle grazing rights during the month of December each year on the Sand Creek WHMA. Throughout the previous 76 years, the Sand Creek WHMA, and for 33 years, the Ox Yoke Ranch easement has developed and grown with continually increasing public recreation use. The area has long been a favorite of local and visiting outdoor enthusiasts seeking a quality, accessible recreation experience within minutes of the towns of Beulah, Sundance and Spearfish.