ATLANTA - The holiday lights have been turned on at the Capitol in Atlanta. <br>
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Visitors gathered in the Rotunda Thursday for the lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree Forest. <br>
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The forest is made up of five live trees grown in Georgia: a Carolina sapphire, a Leyland cypress, a red cedar, a Virginia pine and a white pine. <br>
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In 1999, some Georgians including Gov. Roy Barnes were outraged when the Georgia Building Authority followed a safety recommendation of state fire marshal John Oxendine and installed a a 20-foot fire-retardant artificial tree in the statehouse rotunda. <br>
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Oxendine's office said he only suggested that artificial trees could lessen fire risk and was not advocating any particular tree choice last winter. <br>
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The next year the Georgia Christmas Tree Association announced it would donate five live trees.
