The Trump campaign is reportedly seeking a list of "climate change victories" that can be attributed to Donald Trump's presidency, reflecting a shift in strategy ahead of the 2020 election as polls show growing voter concern over global warming. A spokesman for the Trump campaign said they were unaware of White House conversations on messaging with EPA officials, but confirmed that the campaign is gathering research for an aggressive defense of the president's climate change record.

Water managers from seven Southwestern states that depend on the Colorado River for drinking and irrigation water are getting closer to finalizing an unprecedented drought contingency plan they may have to enact in 2020. Arizona and Nevada are would be the first states to feel the pinch if a shortage is declared as expected next year. Supplies to California also could be curtailed.

Conservationists told a federal judge Wednesday that an imminent government plan to shrink the territory of the only red wolves living in the wild would hasten the animal's extinction in violation of federal law. An estimated 35 wild red wolves remain, down from about 120 a decade ago. Another 200 currently live in captive breeding programs.

Environmental research projects on everything from endangered animals to air and water quality are being delayed and disrupted by the month-long partial federal government shutdown, and not just those conducted by government agencies. Scientists with universities, nonprofit organizations and private companies say their inability to collaborate with federal partners, gain access to federal lands and laboratories, and secure federal funding is jeopardizing their work.

One after another, landmark U.S. protections for climate, air and land are in the crosshairs of the Trump administration as his agency leaders move past early fumbles and scandals to start delivering on a succession of promised environmental rollbacks.

The National Climate Assessment report said warming-charged extremes "have already become more frequent, intense, widespread or of long duration." The report noted the last few years have smashed U.S. records for damaging weather, costing nearly $400 billion since 2015. President Donald Trump said he read some of the report "and it's fine" but not the part about the devastating economic impact. "I don't believe it," Trump said, adding that if "every other place on Earth is dirty, that's not so good."

The Senate on Thursday confirmed acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, handing the reins of the agency responsible for ensuring clean air and safe drinking water to a former coal industry lobbyist. Under Wheeler, it is expected to continue its anti-regulatory crusade that has made it the nemesis of environmental groups and put it in constant conflict with states such as California that are leading the push to abandon fossil fuels.

The National Park Service says it is taking the extraordinary step of dipping into entrance fees to pay for staffing at its highly visited parks in the wake of the partial government shutdown. P. Daniel Smith, deputy director of the service, said in a statement Sunday that the money would be used to bring in staff to maintain restrooms, clean up trash and patrol the parks. He acknowledged that the Trump administration's decision to keep the parks open during the weekslong budget impasse was no longer workable and so more extreme measures were warranted.

Scientists estimate the age of black gums in an old-growth forest surrounded by Bear Swamp in Cumberland County, N.J., ranges from 400 to 500 years, making it among the oldest trees in the oldest forest of its kind in the Northeast. But sea-level rise fueled by warmer oceans and sinking land is pushing saltwater ever closer to the trees, with the potential to kill them in the not-so-distant future.