The funds being spent locally are part of $8.1 million in federal stimulus money the U.S. Department of Agriculture will spend on floodplain easements in 13 areas statewide.

Purchasing the easements allows an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reduce flooding and create more natural habitats for wildlife.

Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Department of Agriculture secretary, made the announcement about the easements Tuesday in Terre Haute.

Mike McGovern, public affairs officer with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency of the department of agriculture, said landowners could apply to receive money as part of this program.

The applicants' sites were rated and ranked according to value for reduction of flooding and wildlife rehabilitation, McGovern said.

"For all practical purposes, (the land) goes back to its natural purpose before it was cleared and drained for agriculture," McGovern said.

McGovern would not release the names of the landowners and where the 175 acres in Tippecanoe County and 154.5 acres Warren County are located, citing privacy law.

Landowners who receive money for the easements retain several rights to the property, which include quiet enjoyment, the right to control public access and the right to undeveloped recreational use -- such as hunting and fishing, according to the NRCS Web site.

Mark Eastman, the Natural Resources Conservation Service district conservationist for Tippecanoe County, said the land within Tippecanoe County will be planted with a mixture of grass, native plants and wildflowers in spring 2010.

"If trees grow, great," Eastman said. "But it's up to Mother Nature."

Converting the land back to its original purpose should reduce the amount of fertilizer and pesticides that flow into Indiana's waterways during floods, Eastman said.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service can purchase easements on any lands that have a history of flooding, which means the lands have flooded at least twice during the past 10 years, according to the agency's Web site.