CRAWFORD NOTCH, N.H. (AP) – The state won’t pursue plans to open a snowmobile trail around the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Highland Center, club officials said.

Instead federal and state forestry workers will spend this summer widening an existing trail.

The AMC last year sued the state to stop building a trail that cuts across its 26-acre property and runs within 300 feet of its lodge, saying agencies did not properly inform the club and its neighbors of the construction. AMC officials also were concerned about the trail’s environmental impact and the disturbance a “merry-go-round” of passing snowmobiles would cause to lodge visitors, said Tupper Kinder, a club lawyer.

A Merrimack County Superior Court judge ruled against the AMC, but cleared the way for a trial on a permanent decision on the matter.

State officials had said adding the trail would relieve congestion on Cog Base Road trail, a popular route for North Country snowmobilers.

On Saturday, AMC deputy director Walter Graff welcomed the state’s decision not to open the trail, which cost $200,000 to build.

“It’s great news,” said Graff.

Work now is slated to widen Cog Base Road by eight feet, at an estimated cost of $45,000 to $60,000.

The Department of Resources and Economic Development and U.S. Forest Service agreed to monitor the widened trail and review its success in April, Graff said.