There are now over 21 known populations with more being found in Jefferson, St. Lawrence, and Oswego Counties. There are 10 good or excellent occurrences. The speculation is this plant is more common than our current information indicates. More survey work is planned for the St. Lawrence River Valley and eastern Lake Ontario region. As a wetland sedge, this plant may be threatened by certain invasive species, manipulations to the hydrology, and changes in water quality.

Many new populations of Carex atherodes have been found in the western parts of northern New York in the past 20 years. Some of these populations occur in cultural habitats such as human created ponds and successional fields. It is likely that some of these populations were overlooked in the past but it also seems plausible that this species is expanding and increasing its populations into these cultural habitats. Therefore, short term trends are not clear but may indicate that C. atherodes is increasing at least in northern New York.

At least one population is believed to be extirpated. A couple other populations only known from historical records have been searched without successfully finding the populations. It is unknown if these populations are still extant. Many new populations have been found in recent years. Some of these were probably overlooked in the past but some may truly be new. Long term trends probably indicate an overall increase but perhaps only in northern New York.