You're probably on the right track. Could also be damage from road salt.

So as far as the comments about maples being unable to grow/thrive in this environment, well, I'm not sure true; there are many around...appreciate all of the comments but sort of getting conflicting advice. Do I spray or not? [Systemic] or spray? It sounds as if the majority believes that the tree should be saved. 1. You think you are getting conflicting advice because we can't tell what is wrong with your tree yet. 2. Chemicals may be a waste of money until it is identified what is wrong with your tree. 3. As for the statement maples being unable to grow/thrive in this environment , No. We are talking about the environment immediately surrounding the tree - the horrible lawn. It is likely the tree is getting insufficient water and gases. 3a. This means that the tree may be attacked because it cannot get sufficient water and gases in its roots. 3b. This means fix this and you may not need to spray. 3c. However a request was made for you to check for wilt. You have not responded to that. 3d. This means that it is unknown whether your tree has a bad pathogen. Until you check for this everything else is just speculation 3d(1) If you have it, the tree is done. 3d(2) If you do not, the immediate problem is that horrible lawn that is stressing the tree. Until you get that under control, you likely are going to have issues with that tree. 3d(3) From here you need to not only aerate numerous times to alleviate compaction but likely need to add amendment as well. Until you get that under control, you likely are going to have issues with that tree. Dan

We have one black maple and three sugar maples in our lawn. The black maple was purchased from a local nursery here in West Central Minnesota, with the understanding it was a "green mountain" sugar maple. As it was the first maple we had ever planted, we didn't realize that it was different from typical sugar maples until 20 years later when we decided to plant some more sugar maples. Now, 15 years after the sugar maples were planted, we can clearly see the difference between the two species (some experts prefer to call black maple a subspecies of sugar maple). The black maple has much larger leaves that are rather leathery and always look drooped. Initially, we thought that the droopiness was due to its location in a full sun, rather windy spot. But, after 35 years, the droopy leaves are always like that, and they are always leathery too. The large leaf size always receives comments from visitors. Fall coloration probably isn't all that much different than our sugar maples, but I feel the colors have more punch/vividness to them. Also, the leaves hang on much longer than on the sugar maples, having begun to change color at least one week before the sugar maples, and keeping it at least a week longer as well. It is worth noting that the black maple begins to turn color rather slowly and progresses throughout the tree over a span of about 4 weeks. As I write this in mid-October, there are still some green leaves on the north side of the tree's crown, while the vibrant reds and oranges that first appeared on the south side have now been blown off the tree in the past 3 days when 30+ mph winds came through. All of our sugar maples were purchased with the "Green Mountain" tag affixed to them. They have smaller leaves and all seem to turn color about the same time, and rather quickly at that, from green to full orange color in about a week's time. The sugar maples we have have grown much more rapidly than the black maple. The first 10-15 years, the black maple grew very slowly on our yellow clay, well drained soil. After 15 years, it seemed to pick up the pace somewhat, perhaps due to having a well established root system. Then again, it may simply be characteristic of black maple to grow slowly. We have wanted to intentionally purchase another black maple or two to grace some added space we have in our lawn. However, no nurseries have been found that offer it. Strange, as the black maple is an outstanding shade tree! What I have reported is based only on our personal experience with one specimen. Maybe others with black maples would care to offer some of their experiences to this thread as well. DarylJ

Here are some more pictures: Also, can anyone tell me what kind of maple it is?