The NPNHA is one of many in the National Heritage Area program. The NPNHA is managed by the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)3 established on June 25, 2004. The NPNHA and NPHF encourage and coordinate local private-public partnerships, and leverage match funding to stimulate cultural and economic development through nationally important place making along and near the Missouri River in central North Dakota.

Through public-private partnerships, the National Heritage Area family is one of the U.S.  Department of the Interior’s most cost-effective programs. Every federal dollar requires a 1:1 match. The NHA program regularly exceeds this, on average, with an annual return of $5.50 in non-Federal funding sources.