By John Kiesewetter
Enquirer staff writer

MORGAN TWP. - The preservation of the old Gov. William Bebb family farm in rural southwestern Butler County could lead to a bike-hike path connecting Miami-Whitewater Forest in Hamilton County to the Governor Bebb Preserve.

Carl Hesselbrock, 76, who has farmed the Bebb land off Alert New London Road since the 1950s, has applied to sell his conservation rights to the state to protect his 800 acres from housing developments.

"We've been offered $20,000 an acre, and that's awful tempting," Hesselbrock said. "But I've got three boys interested in farming, and maybe one or two grandsons."

Hesselbrock has asked that the state purchase a conservation easement on his property south of Okeana through the Three Valley Conservation Trust based in Oxford Township. The nonprofit agency already has preserved 1,100 acres of Butler County farmland, said Larry Frimerman, trust director.

In addition to remaining in agriculture, the Hesselbrock family has agreed to allow public access to land along Dry Fork Creek, which runs from Governor Bebb Preserve near the Indiana border to Miami-Whitewater Forest. A hike-bike trail could be built on the seven-mile corridor along the creek, Frimerman said.

"There have been discussions over the years of someday making a trail linking the two parks," said Mike Muska, Butler County MetroParks director.

On Thursday, Butler County commissioners unanimously voted to support seeking a state grant for the Hesselbrocks.

Commissioners also endorsed Three Valley efforts to protect two Oxford Township farms - 108 acres owned by Judith Alexander, 5120 Morning Sun Road, and 88 acres owned by Carolyn Walker Sandridge, 4480 Retreat Lane.

"We think we can start to make a big dent in preserving farm land in Butler County," Frimerman said.

And that's fine with Hesselbrock, who has seen more than 125 homes sprout in the cornfields within a two-mile radius of his home.

Hesselbrock has owned a dairy, corn, soybean and hay farm in the township since 1949. In the late 1950s, he donated Bebb's boyhood log cabin on his property to the county, which reassembled it at Governor Bebb Preserve. Bebb was Ohio's 19th governor, serving from 1846 to 1848.

Hesselbrock's wife's family, the Arnolds, have farmed part of the Hesselbrocks' 800-plus acres for 98 years.

"Now I'm sure my sons and grandsons will farm it indefinitely," Hesselbrock said.

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com