How does the constitution resolve a conflict between the government's property rights and the right of groups to engage in religious practices on lands they consider sacred? The Supreme Court answered that question in favor of the government's property rights in Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association when it ruled that the free exercise clause of the First Amendment did not prohibit the federal government from permitting road construction and logging activities on federal lands, even though the activities would have a devastating impact on the traditional religious practices of several Native American tribes.