[Chuck Leake]

I started out carving ancient walrus ivory almost 30 years ago. it is still my favorite material. Over 20 years ago I switched over to mammoth ivory. At that time it was much cheaper
and readably available. in 1990 with the elephant ivory ban in place I started buying and selling tusks and cut up material to supplement my income from carving. In a good year i would buy from five to ten thousand pounds. Most of it would be used for knife scales and scrimshaw. Almost all the placer gold mines in the interior of Alaska that were producing mammoth ivory are no longer in production. Most of the ivory sold in Alaska now comes from remote villagers who find it as the permafrost melts. We get almost no material that compares to the A grade Siberian but from time to time a tusk will show up that has a solid core that is satiable for carving.
The going price for decent mammoth in Alaska is from $40 to $120 per pound.
it seems only real shortage is in the top quality material that is suitable for larger carvings.