HUNTINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has announced he will chair the Senate Energy's Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining that oversees national mining policy, mining education and research, public lands and wildlife refuges.

"I am so proud to serve the people of West Virginia on these critical issues, and I hope that the people of our great state continue to share their commonsense ideas, priorities and concerns with me so I can best represent them," he said in a press release.

The chairman of the Energy Committee is Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon.

"Senator Manchin has a deep well of experience on public lands and mining policy, which is why I am so glad he agreed to chair this subcommittee," Wyden said in the release. "He has a real desire to find bipartisan solutions to some of the most important issues facing our committee, and I look forward to working with him this Congress to reach those answers."

The subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests and Mining has jurisdiction that includes oversight and legislative responsibilities for the following subject areas, among others: National mining and minerals policy; general mining laws; surface mining, reclamation and enforcement; mining education and research; federal mineral leasing; public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service; and the establishment of wildlife refuges on public lands and wilderness designations.

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U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WV., watches vote returns at his election watch party in Fairmont, W. Va., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012. Manchin is opposed by Republican challenger John Raese. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)