Baker City, OR – Baker County commissioners on Wednesday voted unanimously to assume control of Ski Anthony Lakes, a ski resort in eastern Oregon west of Baker City.nEarlier this month, the ski area’s owners for the past 12 years — Lee and Connie Kearney and Parke and Gail Ball of Vancouver, Wash., and Kim and Dana Kutsch of Salem, Ore. — offered to transfer the ski area’s assets to the county as it has been losing approximately $45,000 annually in recent years. County commissioners voted 3-0 on Wednesday to accept the offer.

County officials will now spend the next three months to decide whether to operate the resort themselves this winter, or to form a non-profit to do so. They are considering using lodging tax revenue to offset a one year operating loss while they develop a business plan that potentially includes stronger marketing efforts, using county employees for maintenance and leasing out the restaurant facilities.

Ski Anthony Lakes has operated within Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in the Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon since the 1930s. It claims the state’s highest base elevation, while a triple chair and poma lift serve 300 acres of skiable terrain spanning 900 feet. Snowcat and cross-country skiing are also available.