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First of all, this isn't a fossil. It is not fossilized, which is a process where the organic material gets replaced by inorganic.
Second, it's not like mammoth ivory is particularly rare. There's a whole bunch of it in downtown LA at the La Brea Tarpits. There has also been more found farther north in California in spots protected from wind and rain. It is scattered all over Siberia and Northern Canada. Mammoth finds don't exactly set off the newswires because they happen all the time given the climates where they're typically found.
Is this the best use of a relatively limited resource? No. I'd say it's more similar to making a necklace from Roman coins than making a chair from a T. Rex skull, though. It's too bad they ruined the original, but it's not like there isn't a lot more out there.
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