Usery Mountain Needs Volunteers to Toss Native Seed Pellets Into the Desert Nov. 8, and Families Can Help

Some gardening happens in raised beds and some happens on a trail with a pocketful of clay balls. On Sunday, Nov. 8, volunteers at Usery Mountain Regional Park in east Mesa will do the second kind, walking into the desert to scatter small pellets packed with native seeds that were collected, cleaned and rolled by hand earlier this year.

The Native Seed Toss runs from 8 to 10:30 a.m. and starts at the park’s Nature Center, 3939 N. Usery Pass Road. It is one of five November seed tosses Maricopa County Parks and Recreation has scheduled across its regional parks, and registration is required through the county’s sign-up link for the Usery date (signup.com/go/SBuJdia). The county’s flyer puts the plan simply: “It is time to toss our seed pellets! Join us!”

The goal is restoration. According to the county, the pellets go into areas that have burned in wildfires or where invasive plants have been treated, so native species can take hold before weeds move back in.

Where the seeds come from

The toss is the last step in a year-round effort called the Desert Defenders Program. The county describes it as a collaboration among citizen scientists, Maricopa County Parks and Recreation, the Central Arizona Conservation Alliance, and partner groups such as the White Tank Mountains Conservancy and the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy.

The program targets what the county calls the most harmful invasive desert species, plants that it says increase how often and how intensely wildfires burn, crowd out native plants that wildlife depend on, and degrade the overall health of the ecosystem. Its approach has five steps, and volunteers take part in each one.

First comes mapping. Volunteers use a smartphone app to record where invasive plants are growing, how abundant they are and what stage of life they are in, along with which areas have been treated and how. That data helps park staff decide where to spend limited time and money.

Next comes removal. Based on the maps, priority areas are treated using best management practices. Volunteers pull or cut invasive plants by hand or with tools, and contractors handle herbicide treatments where infestations are dense. The program also puts a lot of weight on prevention, because weed seeds often travel on shoes, clothing and equipment.

The third step is harvesting. When native plants set seed, volunteers collect what the county calls a small, sustainable portion. The seeds are cleaned, processed and stored. Because they come from local plants, the county says, they are better suited to survive desert conditions than seed brought in from somewhere else.

The fourth step happens at a table. At seed pellet workshops, volunteers mix the harvested seeds with clay, compost and native microbes and roll them into pellets. The coating protects the seeds until winter rains arrive, which the county says improves germination and survival. This year’s workshops were held at the Cave Creek Regional Park Nature Center on Sept. 18 and at the Usery Mountain Nature Center on Oct. 2.

The fifth step is the toss itself. In the fall, the finished pellets are spread across burned and treated ground. The county lists four benefits: stabilizing soil, reducing erosion, restoring habitat and keeping invasive species from returning.

What to expect on Nov. 8

This is a working morning, not a stroll. The flyer says the activity requires hiking along nature trails. Volunteers are asked to bring work gloves, water and a snack, and to wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants and closed-toe shoes.

Families are welcome. The county encourages family participation and recommends that participants be at least 5 years old. Parents must be present for minors. For a child who has never planted anything, throwing seeds across open desert is a memorable first lesson in how plants spread.

There is one practical caution. The county reserves the right to cancel a seed toss at least one day ahead if fewer than two people register, and it notifies registrants by email. Signing up early is the best way to keep the event on the calendar.

Usery Mountain charges a $10 vehicle entry fee, or $5 for visitors arriving by bicycle, under rates that took effect Jan. 1, 2026. The seed toss flyer does not say whether the fee is waived for volunteers, so plan to pay at the gate or ask when you register. The park can be reached at (602) 506-2930, extension 4.

A park worth the drive

Usery Mountain Regional Park covers 3,648 acres at the western end of the Goldfield Mountains, next to the Tonto National Forest, and has been part of the county park system since 1961. Its best-known hike is the Wind Cave Trail, which climbs to a 2,840-foot alcove where water seeping from the rock supports hanging gardens of rock daisy.

From Nov. 1 through April 30, the Nature Center is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the park is open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Volunteers who want to make a day of it can stay for a hike after the pellets are gone.

Other dates, and a link to San Tan Valley

For anyone who cannot make Nov. 8, the county has four other seed tosses on its November calendar, all from 8 to 10:30 a.m. with registration required: White Tank Mountain Regional Park on Nov. 1, McDowell Mountain Regional Park on Nov. 5, Cave Creek Regional Park on Nov. 6 and Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area on Nov. 7. Of the five, Usery is the closest to San Tan Valley.

The Desert Defenders Program reaches farther south, though. The county lists San Tan Mountain Regional Park, on the edge of San Tan Valley, among the parks where Desert Defender events are held, along with Cave Creek, Estrella Mountain, Usery Mountain, McDowell Mountain and Spur Cross. No seed toss is scheduled there this November, but residents who want to help closer to home can ask about future mapping, removal or harvesting days.

To join the program as a regular volunteer, the county asks people to email parkvolunteer@maricopa.gov. Individual events use the registration links printed on each flyer. Volunteers who take part in four Desert Defender events in one year receive a Desert Defender T-shirt.

Why it matters to home gardeners

Much of what the program teaches carries straight into a backyard. The county says participants learn to tell invasive plants from native ones, harvest and process seed, make seed pellets and read the signs of a healthy desert ecosystem. Those are the same skills that help a homeowner spot a weed before it goes to seed, save seed from a native wildflower, or understand why a patch of bare ground fills in with the wrong plants.

The work is also a reminder of how patient desert restoration has to be. A seed collected in spring, rolled into clay in the fall and tossed onto a burned slope in November still needs winter rain before anything happens. Volunteers who show up at Usery on Nov. 8 will not see the results that morning. If the rains come, the first sign may be a scattering of native seedlings on ground that would otherwise have gone back to weeds.