Master's thesis, Environmental Science, The University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The southern Canadian Rockies have regionally extensive karst development, and many significant cave resources have been found in Alberta. Canada's longest cave, Castleguard, is over 19 kilometers long and is the only cave in the world known to exist beneath an active ice sheet. Near Canmore, Rat's Nest Cave houses a bone bed assemblage of great paleontological significance. Southwest of Calgary, the spectacular ice-filled caves of Plateau Mountain and Canyon Creek may be found high in the limestone ridges. The Crowsnest Pass region has numerous cave resources, including some of Canada's largest and deepest caves. Many caves in Alberta are important for their paleontological, biological, recreational or scenic values. The challenge is to manage these resources in such a way as to maximize their utility and, at the same time, ensure their conservation. It is a considerable challenge, given the sensitivity of the resource. At the present time, Alberta's approach to cave conservation is ad hoc and largely ineffective. It has a long way to go in implementing policies and strategies which will provide for effective cave management. Many of the province's most significant cave resources have already been damaged through ignorance, vandalism and neglect. The cave management strategy proposed herein would: identify and evaluate cave resources in the province; increase awareness of the resource through education and communication; and maximize conservation and utilization. The philosophy of the strategy is to provide the least management necessary to protect both the resource and the user from harm.