LOS ANGELES (AP) — Behind the remains of a town scorched by fire, the foothills are lush with new green and filled with birdsong.

Hundreds of university researchers in the U.S. have had their National Science Foundation funding abruptly canceled to comply with President Donald Trump’s directive to end support of research on diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as the study of misinformation. The loss of funding has roiled academic laboratories that rely on NSF grants to conduct basic research. While some expected the cuts after making it onto on Sen. Ted Cruz's target list of “woke DEI” projects last year, others said their work was only tangentially related to misinformation or encouraging more diversity in the study of science and engineering.

President Donald Trump’s executive order to boost the U.S. commercial fishing industry drew praise from commercial fishing groups and condemnation from environmental organizations. Those critics say they fear cutting regulations will harm fish populations that have already dwindled in some areas of the oceans. Trump says his Thursday order will help the U.S. commercial fishing industry by peeling back regulations and opening up harvesting in previously protected areas, starting with a broad swath of the Pacific Ocean. The order represents a dramatic shift in federal policy regulating fishing in U.S. waters, putting the priorities of commercial fishing interests ahead of federal efforts to allow the supply of fish to make a comeback.