Red Shirt

Red Shirt encompasses 17,007 acres of rolling prairie and draws within Buffalo Gap National Grassland in South Dakota, where elevations range from 2,851 feet in Sheep Camp Draw to 2,883 feet at Shorty Draw. The landscape is drained by Red Shirt Creek and French Creek, which originate within the area and carve shallow valleys through the hills. These drainages support riparian corridors where water moves seasonally through the draws, creating distinct moisture gradients that shape vegetation patterns across the terrain.

The area supports a mosaic of grassland and woodland communities. Upland prairie is dominated by Western Wheatgrass (Elymus smithii), Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis), and Buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides), with scattered forbs including Dotted Gayfeather (Liatris punctata) and Narrow-leaved Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia). Where moisture increases and soils deepen, Green Needlegrass (Nassella viridula) becomes more prominent in the Western Wheatgrass-Green Needlegrass Mixedgrass Prairie community. Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) and Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) establish on drier slopes and ridges, forming open woodlands. Along the draws, Eastern Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) and Peachleaf Willow (Salix amygdaloides) create Great Plains Cottonwood-Peachleaf Willow Floodplain Forest, while exposed badlands areas support sparse vegetation adapted to erosional soils.

Wildlife in Red Shirt reflects the diversity of these habitats. The federally threatened Rufa Red Knot (Calidris canutus rufa) uses prairie grasslands during migration. Suckley's Cuckoo Bumble Bee (Bombus suckleyi), proposed for federal endangered status, forages on native wildflowers throughout the area. The Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus), proposed for federal threatened status, depends on milkweed and other flowering plants as larval and adult food sources. Reptiles including the Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer), North American Racer (Coluber constrictor), and Plains Garter Snake (Thamnophis radix) hunt small mammals and insects across grassland and draw margins. The Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens) occupies seasonal wetlands and stream margins where water collects. Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) and Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) nest in scattered trees and open grassland, while Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) hunts insects in flight at dusk over prairie and draws.

Walking through Red Shirt, the landscape shifts with elevation and moisture. On the uplands, short prairie grasses and forbs create an open vista interrupted by scattered juniper and bluestem. Following a draw downslope, the grassland transitions to denser riparian vegetation as cottonwoods and willows appear along the creek bed, their presence marking the shift from dry to moist soil. The sound of water in Red Shirt Creek or French Creek becomes audible as you descend, and the understory darkens beneath the canopy. Exposed badlands slopes reveal bare earth and sparse vegetation, a stark contrast to the vegetated draws and prairie ridges. This patchwork of grassland, woodland, and riparian forest creates distinct ecological zones within a relatively small area, each supporting different species and ecological processes.

The lands within the Red Shirt roadless area are historically and currently inhabited and used by the Oglala Lakota people, specifically the Wagluhe (Loafer) and Oyuhpe bands. Historically, the Lakota used these lands for hunting bison, which migrated through the Buffalo Gap—a natural pass in the southern Black Hills—to and from the grasslands. The area was part of the Great Sioux Reservation established by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, before being seized by the U.S. government following the Act of 1877. Following the Great Sioux War of 1876–1877, Chief Red Shirt and his followers moved to the Cheyenne River valley below the north end of Red Shirt Table in the late 1870s, establishing the community of Red Shirt, South Dakota, which remains an active Oglala Lakota village today. The area held spiritual significance for the Lakota; it was part of a broader region, including the nearby Stronghold Unit of Badlands National Park, that served as a significant site for Ghost Dance rituals in the 1890s. A Ghost Dancer named Thin Milk was reportedly killed near Red Shirt during this period of cultural conflict. The Lakota consider the surrounding Black Hills region to be the "heart of everything that is" and maintain a spiritual connection to the land for cultural and spiritual renewal.

Following European settlement, the region was opened to settlement under the Homestead Act of 1862. Settlers attempted to replace native grasses with crops, but the land proved submarginal for sustainable farming due to frequent droughts and harsh winters. Historically, the area was also used for extensive cattle and sheep grazing. Overgrazing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries contributed to degradation of the prairie ecosystem. During the Black Hills Gold Rush of the 1870s, the broader Buffalo Gap region served as a major stagecoach route connecting the railroad at Sidney, Nebraska, to the mining towns in the Black Hills, though significant mining and logging activities were concentrated in the Black Hills Highlands rather than the open grasslands of the Red Shirt area.

The area's modern history is rooted in federal land reclamation efforts following the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The federal government purchased submarginal, eroded lands to rehabilitate them for conservation and sustainable use. The lands within the Red Shirt roadless area originally consisted of Land Utilization Projects—specifically the South Dakota Land Utilization Project—acquired by the federal government in the 1930s and 1940s. These lands were eventually transferred to the U.S. Forest Service in 1960 to form the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, established formally on June 23, 1960. The grassland is managed within the Nebraska National Forest and Grasslands unit as part of the U.S. Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region.

The Red Shirt roadless area, comprising 17,007 acres, is protected under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. In 2010, the Tony Dean Cheyenne River Valley Conservation Act was introduced by Senator Tim Johnson as a proposal for additional wilderness protection. The Oglala Lakota Tribe continues to manage adjacent lands on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and the Red Shirt community remains the closest reservation settlement to the roadless area.

Vital Resources Protected

Mixedgrass Prairie Integrity and Native Grassland Bird Habitat

The Red Shirt area contains intact Western Wheatgrass–Blue Grama–Buffalograss and Western Wheatgrass–Green Needlegrass prairie ecosystems that provide unbroken nesting and foraging habitat for grassland-dependent birds. The federally threatened rufa red knot relies on these grasslands as stopover habitat during migration, where it refuels on invertebrates before continuing to Arctic breeding grounds. Road construction would fragment this continuous grassland matrix, isolating populations and reducing the area's capacity to support migratory shorebirds whose survival depends on finding adequate food resources across intact prairie landscapes.

Headwater Connectivity and Floodplain Forest Function

Red Shirt Creek headwaters and French Creek drain through the area's hilly terrain, supporting Great Plains Cottonwood–Peachleaf Willow floodplain forest that stabilizes streambanks and filters runoff before water reaches downstream reaches. This riparian forest provides critical breeding and foraging habitat for Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee (proposed endangered), which depends on native flowering plants in undisturbed riparian corridors for nectar and pollen. The roadless condition preserves the hydrological connectivity between upland draws and floodplain forests—once disrupted by road fill and drainage patterns, this linkage cannot be restored, and the bumble bee populations that depend on continuous riparian vegetation would be isolated and vulnerable to local extinction.

Juniper Woodland and Monarch Butterfly Migration Corridors

Rocky Mountain Juniper–Little Bluestem woodland patches within the area provide shelter and native milkweed plants essential for monarch butterflies (proposed threatened) during their multi-generational migration through the Great Plains. These woodlands create landscape heterogeneity that allows monarchs to find host plants and nectar sources in a region where grassland conversion has eliminated much of their historical habitat. Road construction would fragment these woodland patches and expose the remaining milkweed plants to herbicide drift and edge effects, directly reducing the availability of the specific plants monarchs require to complete their life cycle in this region.

American Bison Habitat and Native Ungulate Movement

The area's rolling grassland and draw systems provide habitat for American bison (near threatened, IUCN), which require large, unfragmented landscapes to move seasonally in response to forage availability and water sources. Roads would create barriers to bison movement between Shorty Draw and Sheep Camp Draw—the primary water and shelter features in the area—fragmenting the landscape into isolated patches too small to support viable bison populations and preventing the natural grazing patterns that maintain prairie structure and diversity.

Threats from Road Construction

Sedimentation and Stream Temperature Increase in Headwater Drainages

Road construction on the hilly terrain of Red Shirt would require cut slopes and fill material in the draws that feed Red Shirt Creek and French Creek. Exposed soil on cut slopes erodes during precipitation events, delivering sediment directly into headwater streams where it smothers the gravel spawning substrate and reduces water clarity, harming aquatic invertebrates that bumble bees and migratory birds depend on for food. Removal of riparian vegetation along road corridors would eliminate shade, causing headwater streams to warm—a direct threat to cold-water aquatic communities and the insects that fuel the food web supporting Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee populations that forage in adjacent floodplain forests.

Grassland Fragmentation and Edge-Effect Habitat Loss for Shorebirds

Road construction would divide the continuous mixedgrass prairie into smaller, isolated patches separated by disturbed corridors of compacted soil, gravel, and roadside vegetation. The rufa red knot requires large, unbroken grassland areas to forage safely during migration stopovers; fragmented patches increase predation risk and reduce the total area available for the intensive feeding required to fuel long-distance flight. The edge effects created by roads—increased predator access, invasive plant establishment, and dust penetration into grassland—would degrade the quality of remaining habitat patches, making them insufficient to support the population densities this threatened species requires during critical migration periods.

Hydrological Disruption of Floodplain Forest and Bumble Bee Nectar Sources

Road fill and drainage structures in the draws would alter the natural flow of water from upland areas into the floodplain forests, reducing the seasonal flooding that maintains cottonwood and willow growth and the understory flowering plants that Suckley's cuckoo bumble bee depends on for nectar. Disrupted hydrology would cause floodplain vegetation to shift toward drier-adapted species, eliminating the specific native flowers the bumble bee requires; once the hydrological regime is altered, restoring the original plant community is extremely difficult and may take decades or longer, during which the bumble bee population would lack adequate forage.

Woodland Fragmentation and Milkweed Loss for Monarch Butterflies

Road construction through juniper woodland patches would fragment these habitat islands into smaller, isolated stands separated by disturbed roadsides where herbicide application and edge-effect conditions prevent milkweed establishment. Monarch butterflies require continuous access to milkweed plants across their migration route; fragmented woodlands reduce the probability that individual monarchs will encounter the host plants necessary for egg-laying and larval development, causing population-level declines in a species already stressed by habitat loss across the Great Plains.

Hiking, Horseback Riding, and Mountain Biking

The Red Shirt Roadless Area offers backcountry exploration across 17,007 acres of hilly grassland and badlands terrain. There are currently no designated trails within the area; instead, recreationists navigate using old double-tracks and cross-country travel across shortgrass prairie, woodland draws, and dramatic badlands formations. Notable landmarks for navigation and viewing include Shorty Draw (2,883 ft), Sheep Camp Draw (2,851 ft), and the Red Shirt Table Overlook, which provides views of the badlands and toward Badlands National Park. Access typically begins at the Red Shirt Table area; visitors should note that the roadless area is surrounded by private and tribal reservation land (Pine Ridge Indian Reservation) and should respect all boundaries. No backcountry permits are required. Seasonal cattle grazing occurs May through November—leave all gates as you find them. The roadless condition is essential to this experience: motorized travel is prohibited to maintain the area's primitive character, ensuring that hikers, horseback riders, and mountain bikers encounter undisturbed terrain and unfragmented habitat rather than roads and vehicle traffic.

Hunting

The Red Shirt area supports hunting for pronghorn, mule deer, and bison, as well as upland birds including sharp-tailed grouse and prairie chickens. The Forest Service maintains viewing blinds for grouse mating displays in spring. Small game and varmint hunting includes coyotes, jackrabbits, badgers, and prairie dogs, though prairie dog shooting is prohibited year-round in designated zones to protect black-footed ferrets. Waterfowl are present in riparian areas. Hunting is governed by South Dakota state regulations; a Habitat Stamp is required for hunters 18 and older. Sharp-tailed grouse and prairie chicken seasons typically run mid-September to early January. Non-toxic shot is required for small game hunting. Baiting is prohibited on National Forest System lands. As a roadless area, motorized travel for hunting is restricted; hunters must access the interior on foot, horseback, or bicycle. This non-motorized requirement preserves the remote hunting experience and protects the area's unfragmented habitat. French Creek Campground, located approximately 10 miles east of Fairburn, serves as a base for hunters. The Wall Ranger District office in Wall, SD, provides access information and permits.

Fishing

French Creek, documented as a "necklace of pools and riffles," supports brown trout within the roadless area. Red Shirt Creek has headwaters in the area, though specific fish species and fishing quality data for this reach are not documented. South Dakota fishing seasons are generally open year-round; no special regulations are documented specifically for these stream segments within the roadless area. French Creek Campground, approximately 10 miles east of Fairburn, provides primary access to riparian areas. Anglers must typically hike or use horseback to reach interior stream segments. The area's primitive, roadless character means that fishing here depends on foot or horse access rather than vehicle roads, preserving the quiet, undisturbed watershed conditions that support cold-water trout habitat.

Birding

The Red Shirt area is documented habitat for migratory grassland-nesting birds and raptors. The broader Buffalo Gap National Grassland and adjacent Badlands region support burrowing owls (in prairie dog towns), prairie falcons, golden eagles, ferruginous hawks, long-billed curlews, sharp-tailed grouse, mountain bluebirds, and black-billed magpies. The nearby Weta Dam Special Interest Area provides primary habitat for trumpeter swans and waterfowl production. The area is part of the geographic scope of the Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes Birding Trail, which encompasses 38 sites in western South Dakota. Best birding months are April through October. The Red Shirt Table Overlook and the braided Cheyenne River and White River Badlands corridors provide access points for non-motorized birdwatching. The National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, SD, provides interpretive information on grassland bird species and maps. The roadless condition protects the interior forest and grassland habitats where these species nest and forage, free from road fragmentation and motorized disturbance.

Photography

The Red Shirt area offers scenic overlooks, geological formations, and wildlife subjects. The Red Shirt Table Overlook, located off Highway 40 on the western edge, provides vistas into the Badlands and toward the Black Hills. Schumacher Canyon, the centerpiece of the area, features steep slopes with color-banded clay layers. The braided Cheyenne River and French Creek provide water features; French Creek Campground sits in a riparian meadow adjacent to an agate bed. Early June blooms include prickly pear cacti and companion wildflowers. The area supports bison, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, badgers, and prairie dogs. Documented wildlife includes raptors and grassland birds. The area is noted for limited light pollution and vast skies, making it suitable for stargazing and night photography. Drone photography is permitted within the Buffalo Gap National Grassland (subject to standard USFS regulations). The roadless condition preserves the open, undeveloped landscape and dark skies that make the area's geological and wildlife photography distinctive.