The species appears to thrive in dry sandy soil. The primary threat to the survival of white-haired goldenrod is the many visitors to rockshelters in the Red River Gorge area each year. The Red River Gorge has an extensive trail system, and many of these trails pass through or near rockshelters. The heavy use of rockshelters by hikers, campers and rock climbers results in several types of damage to individual plants. Trampling can damage the current year's growth, or it can damage seeds or cause them to be dispersed to unsuitable sites.
Visitors also damage plants by dumping garbage and building fires in rockshelters.
In areas where disturbance continues for long periods, the plants may never recover. Even if plants are able to recolonize trampled areas, their growth may be stunted because of soil compaction. Another serious threat to the species is archaeological looters. As looters dig up soil in their hunt for artifacts, they also dig up stolons and seeds of white-haired goldenrod. Plants are unlikely to recover from such extensive damage.