I’m asking, as gently as I know how, if there’s anything here besides “because they’re Indians.” Because that’s not a very good reason.
Its not a proposal, it is a program established by law and which the first deadline for the early round of grants has already passed.
> Does it even involve the same tribes?
Potentially, since the grant program is open to all California tribes, whether or not federally recognized.
The joint declaration here could plausibly be a foundation for the tribes to establish one or more projects within the declared protected area and apply for grants to carry them out, so it could be directly related.