The federal government has declared it owns Wisteria Island -- not the Bernstein family -- and has since before 1845.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for managing the island today, according to Davida Carnahan, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

That opinion issued Friday is based on three documents that show the federal government claimed ownership as early as 1845, then reserved it for the Navy's use in 1924, then gave control of it to U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Department of Treasury and the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1982, according to Frankie Morgan, a legal assistant for the Bureau of Land Management.

"There is no evidence that ownership of Wisteria Island was ever transferred from the federal government," Carnahan wrote in a press release issued Friday.

The Bernstein family claims it bought the island in 1967 and has been paying property taxes on it ever since. The family, under the name F.E.B. Corp., has been working with Sunset Key's owners to develop Wisteria.

"We are surprised by this letter and are currently reviewing the situation," Roger Bernstein said Friday. "We still believe that F.E.B. Corp. owns the island."

In light of the revelation, Monroe County Commissioner Kim Wigington on Friday said she would call for a halt to the county's process of giving the island a future land use map designation, which would determine how much development was allowable, until the ownership issue can be resolved.

County Mayor David Rice said the County Commission most likely will discuss how to proceed on the issue when it meets in December in Marathon. Wigington was granting a request made earlier this week by Key West resident Naja Girard, a board member of the Florida Keys environmental nonprofit Last Stand who has long fought attempts to develop the island. Girard had asked Monroe County planning officials to stop the designation process after finding federal documents in the National Archives that show the government's ownership.

In a September 1845 Executive Order, President James Polk declared the United States owned all offshore shoals. In Executive Order 4060, President Calvin Coolidge reserved Wisteria Island for the Navy's use on Aug. 11, 1924. In Public Land Order 6214, the Navy gave control of the island to the three federal agencies -- Treasury, Interior, and Fish and Wildlife -- on March 18, 1982.

The federal claim is a reversal of the Bureau of Land Management's Aug. 24 stance, in response to The Citizen's Aug. 8 request for information about ownership of Wisteria Island. At that time, the agency said the executive and public orders did not apply because Wisteria was not a natural island, but one the Navy created when it dredged the Key West Harbor channel in the early 1900s, Carnahan wrote in her Aug. 24 email to The Citizen.

"After further review and consultation," Carnahan wrote in a press release Friday, "it has become clear that Wisteria Island was subject to executive and public orders because it was built upon a pre-existing shoal."

In its earlier opinion, the bureau said the state had owned the land, not the federal government.

"Florida had claimed sovereign rights to Wisteria Island under the authority of the Submerged Land Act of May 23, 1953," according to Carnahan's Aug. 24 email. "Because the creation of Wisteria Island was not a natural occurrence, the island was never considered to be part of the public domain of the United States."

The state and federal government knew about the federal claim, however, when the state sold the island -- 22 above-water acres plus 15 submerged acres -- on Jan. 9, 1952, Girard said.

"The Navy had filed a formal objection to the sale," Girard said. "They (the state) made sure that the purchaser knew about it and they told him they would reimburse him if the title failed."

The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the State of Florida is the agency that sold the island, according to Lynn Garcia, a Monroe County Property Appraiser's Office real estate department supervisor who researched the island's lineage for The Citizen. While county records show the buyer was Paul E. Sawyer and his wife, Reta, Girard said other state and federal records show Sawyer, the Monroe County attorney at the time, was acting as an agent for Bernie C. Papy. The deed says the sales price was $2,769, but the document stamps show it was $6,100, and it is unclear which figure is correct.

On Jan. 28, 1952, just 19 days later, the Sawyers transferred the island to Papy and his wife, Pauline, for $6,100. Papy, a Key West real estate developer, was a 14-term member of the Florida House of Representatives.

In March 1956, the Papys sold it to Amaryk Aldo and his wife, Charlotte, for $115,500.

In April 1962, the Aldos spent $200 to transfer ownership to Wisteria Island Inc., whose principals were Aldo himself, acting as the company's president, and Secretary Jack A. Davis.

In January 1967, Wisteria Island Inc. sold it for $317,750 to F.E.B. Corp., which in 1972 bought additional bay bottom from the state.

Property Appraiser Karl Borglum said the Florida Department of Revenue will have to determine whether the Bernsteins -- and any other previous island "owners" -- are entitled to a property tax refund. F.E.B. Corp. has paid $25,985 in property taxes since 1998, according to the county's online property tax records, which do not show how much they paid between 1967 and 1998.

The property's assessed value has dropped from $633,949 in 1982 to $17,970 in 2011, according to the Property Appraiser's Office's online records. Bernstein said Friday it was too early to say whether his family would sue the federal government. Carnahan said the Fish and Wildlife Service would have to comment on whether the Bernsteins have any legal recourse or ability to appeal the Bureau of Land Management ruling.

Anne Morkill, who oversees all of the Fish and Wildlife Service's refuges in the Florida Keys, was on vacation Friday and did not return messages left on her cellphone.

It was not known Friday whether the public can now freely use Wisteria Island, as with Boca Grande, Woman Key and other islands in the Key West and Great Heron national wildlife refuges.

Surprise was local elected officials' most common reaction to the news. Some in Key West hailed the news, but said they were prepared to watch a long legal battle over the claim.

"I am glad to see this come forward like that. I hope it's true," Mayor Craig Cates said. "The city is against development of the island. The developers were asking for way more than was allowed. I think it's not good news for the owner, but it's good news for the community. It takes a lot of pressure off the county officials and the city."

Wisteria Island, just off Key West, is under Monroe County jurisdiction, but development would require Key West city utilities and services. F.E.B. Corp. wanted to build 40 homes, 35 hotel units and 55,000 square feet of commercial space, including a bar, restaurant and retail shops.

Commissioner Mark Rossi, who, like other residents, once used the island as a playground, holding parties there for his employees, also welcomed word of the federal claim.

"That will be interesting to see what happens there; you'll see litigation for years to come," Rossi said. "Maybe it will stop the development. Maybe it can be turned into a boater's park, a place to camp for the public."

Wigington praised Girard for her work tracking down the ownership.

"This is why we have to listen to the public who stay involved," Wigington said, "because they find out things we don't know about or are not part of the process."

Citizen staff writers John DeSantis and Gwen Filosa contributed to this report.