When the U.S. Department of Defense targeted the only active-duty airfield in the Northeast, it relied on faulty logic and shortsighted reasoning to make its case.

Now that Brunswick Naval Air Station is destined to be closed, the Defense Department is making the same mistake again. Earlier this month, the Navy announced that it would not transfer the base to local or state government. Instead, it will sell the 3,220-acre base at market value. If the decision stands, it could seriously hamper redevelopment.

The federal government is broke. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan place a major burden on the budget, and the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast could cost $200 billion or more. Add to it the irresponsible Medicare drug expansion that is projected to cost $800 million by 2015, and we understand why the feds would scramble for every penny available.

But it’s not good public policy for the federal government to engage in real estate speculation. The best utilization of the BNAS property might not mesh with the uses that would generate the highest revenue in a straight-out sale. Further, the federal fetish with oil exploration and refinery construction – even in ecologically sensitive areas – is enough to get the conspiracy theorists folding their aluminum foil hats.

Already, Brunswick has been forced to absorb a huge financial penalty for the decision to close BNAS. Unemployment in the region is expected to spike when the base is fully closed by 2011, and more than $125 million in annual salaries will be lost.

Working together, state and local leaders are in the best position to lead the redevelopment effort. Two local redevelopment authorities – in Brunswick and Topsham – are being formed. A regional authority modeled on the Loring Development Authority is also being planned. There are a lot of possibilities for resurrecting the property, and the process at the state and local levels is under way.

U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, who has vowed to fight the Department of Defense decision, will meet with the community at 3:30 p.m. today at the Old Brunswick High School to discuss redevelopment and what the appropriate federal role should be.

It only makes sense for the BNAS property to be transferred back to the local government. Before it became a military base, much of the land was owned by the town. Now that the military says it has no further use for the property, it should be returned.

The Pentagon’s current policy needlessly puts at risk the region’s recovery. It should be reversed.