Photos: Best of the West

In this July 2, 2011 photo provided by the North Carolina National Guard, a crew prepares a C-130 MAFFS 7 (Modular Airborne FireFighting System) cargo plane to battle a wildfire, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Officials on Monday, July 2, 2012, said a C-130 MAFFS based out of North Carolina has crashed while fighting wildfires in South Dakota. The plane went down about 6 p.m. Sunday in the southwest corner of South Dakota, where it had been dropping flame retardant on the 6-square-mile White Draw Fire. The cause of the crash is not known and the incident is under investigation. (AP Photo/North Carolina Air National Guard, Michael Wilber)