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U.S. Sen. Mike Lee will chair the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee next year.

Driving the news: Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) handed the gavel to Lee during an impromptu ceremony Tuesday.

Lee has long been seen as the GOP's next-in-line, but it was a formal acknowledgement that he'd be the chair next year.

Catch up quick: Lee is a longtime opponent of federal ownership of Western public lands.

He "looks forward to increasing local access and management for federal lands while stopping Washington's abuse of the Antiquities Act and overreach by BLM," a spokesman for the senator told Axios.

The other side: The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance called Lee's chairmanship "a direct threat to America's public lands."

"Senator Lee is uniquely and distinctly unqualified for this leadership post," Travis Hammill, SUWA's D.C. director, said in a news release.

"He has been particularly critical of popular public lands protections for treasured places like Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments, highlighting how he's out of step with the importance of these places to Americans," Hammill said.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee to lead Senate Energy committee

Utah's senior senator has long railed against federal control over Western public lands.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Nov. 13 at the U.S. Capitol. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Mike Lee (U.S. politician)

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee will chair the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee next year.Driving the news: Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) handed the gavel to Lee during an impromptu ceremony Tuesday.

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