UPDATE: Man Sentenced For Mammoth Tusk Theft In Alaska

On April 11, 2019, Martin Thornley Elze, 52, of Anchorage, was sentenced to serve 33 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for the 2018 theft of a 100-pound mammoth tusk from Alaska’s Campbell Creek Science Center. Elze was also ordered to pay $8,385.82 in restitution to the science center.

The tusk was one of several that were turned over to BLM law enforcement in the mid-1980s. BLM believes the tusks were removed from BLM-managed public lands near the Colville River in northern Alaska. Upon receipt of the tusks, BLM archeologists and paleontologists estimated they were approximately 10,000 years old.

A BLM archaeologist restored and stabilized the tusks, and they were transferred to several different BLM-managed facilities, including the Campbell Creek Science Center, as educational and interpretive pieces for the public to see and enjoy.

Elze and his co-conspirator, Gary Lynn Boyd, targeted the tusk in advance by visiting the center and asking staff specific questions about the weight and authenticity of the tusk. They returned the next night when the center was closed. Boyd used a rock to break a window, causing $1,385.22 in damage, to unlawfully open a door and enter the museum. After Boyd removed the tusk from the center, museum video surveillance system caught the two carrying away the tusk.

According to court documents, Elze and Boyd stole the tusk for pecuniary gain. They cut the mammoth tusk into pieces and sold them for profit. Court documents show the pre-theft value of the tusk to be approximately $7,000 to $9,000.

The value of these sorts of tusks and other ivory varies widely based on the condition that it is in. There are both legitimate and illegitimate markets for ivory and these kids of paleontological artifacts. Rules and regulations regarding archaeological and paleontological are different on state land, private land, and federal land. On BLM-managed public lands it is illegal to remove or disturb archaeological and paleontological resources. It may be legal to remove and/or possess these types of items from state lands or private lands based on state laws and regulations.