Question
I have a maple with red leaves. The trunk is the problem. The outer bark comes peeling off easily; underneath is a combination of some hard tree and spongy, light tan material. There are no bugs visible but this bare spot runs vertically from a knot hole to the ground. Do I have an infections of bugs and disease; does it sound like the tree can be saved?

Answer
Doesnt sound like either bugs or disease, but rather a physical wound.  The bark peeling off is not a good sign and neither is the tan spongy material underneath.  My recommendation is to pull off all loose bark and scrape away the spongy material as all of this is dead wood and is doing nothing but holding moisture, which could cause rot later, if it already hasn't. Take a knife (or even a small hatchet) and scrape the edges of the healthy/dead interface until you have removed all of the dead wood and are actually scraping into the healthy living tissue.  This is called bark scoring.  Much like what a doctor would do with a 2-3 day old cut that needs to be sown up, he must remove the old dead skin in order to get a good hold on healthy tissue so the stitches will hold good.  You are doing the same thing here, except without stitches.  Leave the area bare and do not cover with any foreign material such as paint as doing so will create a favorable environment for pathogens.  Fertilize the tree with slow release tree fertilizer and keep watered during periods of dry weather.  Watch the wounded area over the next month and see if it begins to form a healthy looking callous tissue, which is a good sign.  If this begins to happen, the tree will be on its way to recovery.  If it continues to lose bark, the tree will eventually die, since the bark carries the all important vascular tissue for the tree.  I hope this helps solve the problem.  You do have an uphill battle, but success can be achieved.  Good Luck.