The papers appearing in this volume were presented at the Seventh  Australasian Cave Tourism   and  Management Conference held  in New  South Wales during May 1987. The Conference was  co-hosted by  the New South Wales Tourism Commission,  The  New  South  Wales  National  Parks  and Wildlife  Service   and  The   Australian Speleological Federation Inc.  All the  tourist cave   complexes in  the State were  visited as well as “wild” caves at Wee Jasper and London  Bridge, both  near Canberra.  Paper  sessions were held  at  Jenolan,  Wombeyan    and  underground  in Signature  and   Glory  Hole  Caves  at  Wee  Jasper  and Yarrangobilly respectively.  A business  session was held at  Yarrangobilly   at  which   the   Australasian   Cave Management Association  was formed  (now the Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association).

The Conference  was opened at Jenolan by Mr Paul Crombie, Commissioner and  General  Manager  of  the  NSW  Tourism Commission  and  closed  at  Tumut  by  Dr.  Jack  Giles, Assistant  Director,  NSW  National  Parks  and  Wildlife Service.

It has been said that the Seventh Conference did not have the level  of intellectual  content of previous meetings. Whilst this  may well  be so,  I  feel  that  the  mobile conference exposed  both the  delegates and  the  various areas  to   a  wide  range  of  issues  and  remedies.  A particular problem  that became  evident was  the need to make managers  aware  of  sources  of  information  about caves, karst  and management  of these  resources. At the conference Adrian  Davey circulated  a very comprehensive bibliography on  cave and karst management. I intended to publish this  bibliography with these proceedings but the sheer size  of the  material and  problems with  updating have  prevented  this.  However,  it  will  hopefully  be published shortly as a stand-alone document.

A  further   and  related   problem  identified   by  the Conference is  that of  the  so-called  “musical  ranger” policies of  some management  authorities. The  need  for broadening staff  horizons and  career possibilities  was recognised but it was felt that staff movements are often made at  the expense  of the  resource and  may  fail  to recognise the   individual’s commitment to, and knowledge of, caves  and  karst  resources.  Karst  management  and interpretation is  a specialised  and not well understood task. This  fact is  being  increasingly recognised by the community and management agencies  and it is to be hoped that this recognition will result in personnel management  policies that reflect the Conference’s concern.

I am  indebted  for  help  in  the  organisation  of  the Conference  to   many  people   from  the   various  cave management authorities, especially Ernie Holland and Mike Chalker. Others include:

At Jenolan:  Malcolm Bryan  (Resort Manager),  Ernie Holland (Senior Guide) and his guiding staff. At Wellington:  The  Wellington  Shire  Council  and their  staff   especially  Christine   Noke  Tourist Officer) and Alan McMahon (Chief Guide).   At  Abercrombie Caves: Mike Treharne   (Superintendent) and Barry Cubit (Guide).  At Wombeyan:  Mike Chalker  (Superintendent) and his staff.     

 At Yass/Wee  Jasper: The  Yass Shire  Council,  Doug Pearsall (Tourist  Officer) and  Adrian Carey (Chief Guide) and his guiding staff. At  Tumut/Yarrangobilly:   Jenny   Farrell   (Senior Ranger) and Neil Kell (Caves Manager). At London Bridge: Mark Butz (Project Officer). At Queanbeyan:  Peter Burfitt  (Regional  Secretary) and Sheree Williams (Finance Officer). 

Additionally thanks are due to Ernie, Mike, Steve and Ian for their  bus driving  efforts without  which the mobile conference would have ground to a halt. Vanessa Swift and Michelle Tozer  performed miracles of rekeying all of the papers here;  without their  efforts the  preparation  of these   proceedings would  have   been  of  a  far  lower standard. The authors prepared and submitted their papers with unusual  care and  speed and  thus made  the job far easier than  is often  the case. However, the pressure of other  work  and  my  general  slothfulness  has  delayed publication  far   beyond  what   might   be   considered reasonable. I extend my apologies to the authors for this delay which is entirely my own responsibility.

Andy Spate Investigations Officer, Karst NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service QUEANBEYAN  NSW