SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Wednesday marked Sequoia National Park's 133rd birthday, park staff say. On Sept. 25, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed legislation establishing Sequoia National Park as America's second national park. According to rangers, Sequoia was the first national park formed to protect a living organism, Sequoiadendron giganteum, also known as the Giant Sequoia. Closures due to the Coffee Pot Fire to lift in Sequoia National Park The legislation protects approximately 40 Giant Sequoia groves throughout the 404,063-acre park - and according to biologists, each grove contains up to tens of thousands of trees. Standing out among its peers is the General Sherman Tree, the largest tree by volume on the planet at 52,508 cubic feet. In addition to being one of the planet's largest organisms, sequoias also make up some of the world's oldest; it took the General Sherman Tree approximately 2,200 years to reach its current height of 274.9 feet - and it is still growing.