In the US PNW coast area Douglas Fir trees are harvested for lumber within about 30 years, plus or minus. Maybe the person you were talking to was considering the harvest of the tree to be the moment when the CO2 is "reclaimed"?
Wrt to when the tree pays off the carbon footprint generated by raising and planting the seedling, I guess it's less than three years.
Fun fact: Douglas Fir reach peak carbon fixation rate at about 120 years.
I think it's interesting that so many are accepting that this is chaos. I get that it feels like chaos but I am seeing the predictable end of a political juggernaut and the inevitable realignment of the tectonic plates of Republican politics. Trump's influence is diminished as evidenced by the rejection of his choice for Speaker. Yet the party lacks an obvious successor. But nature abhors a vacuum including power vacuums so I feel certain an enterprising politician will emerge to take the reins and plot a new course for the Republicans.