Eglin closes access to Cape 'elbow' beach; county officials cite a contract and push federal outreach

Gulf County commissioners and residents pressed for federal help on Aug. 7 after Eglin Air Force Base closed a gate that had allowed public beach driving at a stretch of shoreline county residents call "the elbow." Jim Norton, who said he worked in U.S. Rep. Alan Boyd's office around 2001–2002, told the Board of County Commissioners the property transferred from the Coast Guard to the Air Force by contract rather than through the Bureau of Land Management process and that the written transfer included a promise to continue public beach driving.

Why it matters: County residents and officials said the closure blocks vehicular access to about six miles of shoreline used for surf fishing and other recreation and raised questions about whether the Air Force’s action violates a long-standing contract and related license agreements.

Norton summari…